East Side Story (2006)

I love this movie so much

One of my all time favorites.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

A young gay Latino who is a talented chef works in his family's Mexican restaurant. While he lives with an understanding grandmother, he's not out to her or anyone else and he's dating a man who's not even out to himself. When a hunky/cute gay guy moves in across the street with his clingy ex-trailer park boyfriend our young chef wants to explore some new appetites. While, this film has a few very attractive actors and a reasonably good script explores some new territory but it had a number of amateurish moments that caused the viewer to lose that willing suspension of disbelief so necessary to really get into a film. Because the awkward moments are NOT overshadowed/made up for by the poignant moments this will never make it to my watch over and over queue. I'm a big supporter of gay cinema and I suggest that everyone see this one at least once but be forewarned, it's not top tier quality.

aaahahahhhahahaa!! WTF?! why has NO one mentioned the *ucked up ending eh? i mean really the movie was decent, kept my interest at least though definitely cliché. but the end images? the last line being 'we will just have to see' the cut to a bunch of images of other latino folks doing the stereotyped Mexican-American jobs. it seems to convey that since he is gay (and finally was pushed into confronting it with his family) that he is special, talented, gifted, able to step out of the tight fitting molds which our culture like to put on Mexican-Americans. i am not running my mouth about any crap, no dissing or dismissing on queerfolk. it seemed to suggest that because he was gay it made him better able to step out of his racial role and be a 'success', while the rest of the la mexicans don't have what it takes. just seemed damned separatist to me. got a different view of the last 30 seconds? do tell.

Ah, to remember the past. Sure, I realize East Side Story came out (on DVD) in 2007, and probably made way before that, but it was surely stuck in the early 1990s. The themes: coming out, closeted individuals, family acceptance of homosexuality, stereotypes and racism is sooo 1992. And you know what? It was refreshing.It was a nice and warm reminder to days past. And this low-budget, independent gay-themed movie was actually well made (filmed) and held enough interest to watch to the end. Sure, it had a familiar plot, enormously stereotypical characters and predictable outcomes, but, strangely, enjoyable.The movie begins with two closeted characters, Diego (enormously hot, but unfortunately straight, Rene Alvarado) and confused real estate agent, Pablo (David Beron) roll-playing sexual encounters. It's obviously doomed, and Diego has to learn to live on his own.His parents passed on and he lives and works with his grandmother at an apparently authentic Mexican food restaurant in a very depressing, racist and homophobic neighborhood. Diego wants out and over to Phoenix. (Side Note: I wished he had at least visited the Valley of the Sun, as I am currently living there. So few films are shown here.) He meets the new neighbors and it's predictable that he falls for attached Wesley (Steve Callahan.) It takes awhile, but you know what's coming.The movie is hard to watch, for some of the racist jokes/statements and throws you a curveball for being a "light romantic comedy" and then shows scenes of explicit sexual encounters or nudity (just backsides and bare chests,) even though the movie begins with a dark-shot blow-job, most of the movie could've been shown edited on LOGO.A friend had been recommending East Side Story to me for a long while, so I finally got around to seeing it. I'm glad I did. It's not groundbreaking, but had some decent acting (though I never truly believed Diego was an educated chef, despite them "telling" us he was,) very funny dialogue (at times,) good eye-candy and a touching throwback to the early 1990s gay-themed film-making. It's harmless fun, if you can understand where the characters are coming from and know soap operas aren't necessarily reserved for heterosexuals.

With the high score here on IMDb, I was expecting far more than this film delivered. East Side Story is technically fine with respectable acting, yet the plot was just so much frothy fluff with nothing to bite into. There's no tension or drama, and not enough laughs to be a comedy either.There are dozens of gay-themed films available that have a sharper edge and allow the viewer to actually feel something instead of watching a few gay men in a cheesy, predictable, plain-vanilla sitcom. Admittedly, many of the best movies are foreign -- which is fine by me. If you haven't already, view the many titles from Latin America, Europe and Asia for a sharper taste and story lines you won't find from US studios. Can't honestly give ESS any more than 4 stars out of 10.