La Bamba (1987)

One of my all time favorites.

Just perfect...

Absolutely the worst movie.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Richie Valens never looked as depicted in this movie! He was shorter and heavier. The movie goes way too fast and the dialogue is poor. I do like Marshal Crenshaw as Buddy Holly though which is about the only ggo thing I can say. Look at "The Buddy Holly Story" for the appearance at the end of what Ritchie Valens would really llo like. In addition, the music was not recorded by the actor unlike Gary Busey who was a muscian. Lou Phillips sucks period. No wonder we have not heard much at all about him these days. This movie was done for profit using a well known at the time actor.

Richie Valens was one of many Mexican American pop stars of his era. Many were not known because they were members of bands and not solo artists like Valens. I thought Rosanna DeSoto gave an excellent performance as Valens' mother. She is one of my favorite actresses and can perform comedic roles equally as well as dramatic roles. She's a very versatile actress. In this movie, she was the only authentic Mexican American actor to be cast. The others were Cuban or something else. I would have preferred the role of Valens had gone to a Mexican American actor as Valens was of Mexican heritage and there are few roles about Mexican Americans that actually go to Mexican American actors. Aside from that, I enjoyed this movie.

A heartfelt biopic of Ritchie Valens, the '50s rock and roll singer whose career was cut tragically short when he was killed in a plane crash just after reaching the heights of fame.The film itself follows a traditional format, showing Valens's humble working background and the gradual successes before he hits the big time. Along the way, many scenes are given over to Ritchie's relationship with his brother Bob, a tempestuous character who adds plenty of drama to the proceedings, and there's also time for romance.Although Lou Diamond Phillips didn't do the actual singing, I think he makes a good fist of portraying Valens. He certainly brings a youthful energy to the part. Inevitably, the music scenes are the highlight of the film and a good job is done of making them as accurate as possible. The inevitable outcome adds a tragic twist to the film as a whole, which is really a celebratory outing of one man's outstanding talent.

Ritchie Valens died at seventeen alongside Buddy Holly in a plane crash, but not before leaving several records including the one which gives this film its title, 'La Bamba'.A straight biopic covering 1957-1959, the last two years of Valens' life, this showcases his music, his family, and his personality. In the lead Lou Diamond Phillips does perhaps his best work, although the rest of the cast are in strong support.I just didn't get a feeling that this film had much of a heart - yes, there is the jealous brother, and the girlfriend whose parents don't approve, but it is all a bit hollow. So the film is only a bit of a diversion, nothing special.