ironhorse_iv
White suit is usually the best clothes to wear, during the summer as it keep, some of the merciless heat away. Sadly, this movie is getting a lot of heated from certain critics, for its silly premise. I can understand why. This movie doesn't have much of a plot. It tells the story of five poor Latino men who pool their resources to buy one magnificent, beautiful, magically white suit and wear it for one hour- each. That's pretty much, it. I found the movie, so one-dimensional and cheesy. Each character seem like caricatures, rather than real people. Honestly, the movie could have work, better, if the movie gave, each character, more time to develop. It would be, nice to see what happens to any of these characters after spending one hour with the suit. I would love to see, what one week with the suit, could do, or a month, or a year. The movie could some really cool characters arches with all that time, spent. A good example is the wandering guitar player, Dominguez (Esai Morales). We could see him, getting really famous, and then let all the fame, get to his head, and then alienate the rest of the group, by wanting to keep the suit for himself, but in the end, seek redemption. It would be nice to see a story about him. One character that really needed, a back-story and a character arch, was Vámonos (Edward James Olmos), the bum. Edward James Olmos really went all out for this role. He's was the most entertaining person on the film! It sucks, that we rarely know anything about his character. It's such a bummer! One character that should have been delete from the film is Villanazul (Gregory Sierra). Villanazul is the weakest part of the film, not only is his scenes stripped of any clear political motivation, it's really boring. I really can't stand, this character. The only two characters that the movie gave time to advance, was Jose Martinez (Clifton Collins Jr.) & Gómez (Joe Mantegna). Sadly, their improvements are well-delivered. I really don't understand, what made the known con-man, Gómez change his evil ways. His redemption arch really comes, out of nowhere. Still, the Italian American, Joe Mantegna does seem believable as zoot suit wearing, Latino con-man. His acting wasn't so bad. I found Clifton Collins Jr's acting be mediocre. It's really hard to believe, that he's the main protagonist. He seem, very bland, compare to the others. The movie has other cameos, like Sid Caesar, but they seem wasted. Sadly, this movie wasn't director Stuart Gordon's best work. I didn't like the way, he shot things. A good example is the scene, where Vámonos was jumping over the car. It was just plain awful-looking. It looks so cheap. Still, I will give him, some credit. He got the right people to do the opening sequence. The film opens with a catchy number sung by Nydia Rojas, set to a gorgeous salt animation title sequence designed by Robert Dawson & Aleksandra Korejwo. It reminds me of a Diego Rivera-like murals. It was beautiful! Glad, they kept that in. I also, didn't like the writing. Don't get me wrong, I love Ray Bradbury's Sci Fiction stories, but I did not like, one. The reasons why, are very clear. First off, the white suit is pretty damning to Latino culture. Of course, in the world of fiction, the white suit means genuinely good, but in the American media, white clothing suggest pride, avarice, ambition, and questionable morality, which is why you can see so many mafiosos, drug lords, and corrupt corporate executives in such garb. I really doubt, Latinos want to be, anywhere part of that. Another problem is the script was made for stage play format, not a film format. This meant that the movie would have long drawn out, scenes of dialogue, with little to no action. It also meant that the film will have a limited budget. Since, stage play only play out in a few locations. This meant that the film would often, reused the same locations, more than once. A good example of this, is the bar settlings. The pacing got very repetitive fast for a 77 minute film. Another problem with Ray Bradbury's writing is the humor. The humor is mostly a miss than a hit. I really didn't like the racial caricatures, slapstick or the gross out humor. It wasn't very funny for me. Don't get me wrong, Ray Bradbury makes great Sci-fiction novels, but he's not a comedian. One of my big complains about this film is how Ray Bradbury change the ending. It totally alter the meaning of the original story. In the original, it is revealed that the central character doesn't need the suit to succeed, but just lacked the confidence. It is an uplifting message that leave its viewers asking, 'Was it, the suit that make the man or was it, the man that made the suit?' It would make a great dilemma! Instead, the movie skipped this, for a friendship moral. It's really hard to believe, that all these men became friends, after one night of each other, taking turns, wearing a suit. I think, I glad they kept in, was the smile. The smile imagery in this story again demonstrates Bradbury's high optimism concerning humanity. Even a simple smile has a greater impact than the so-called powers of materialism. It's nice to see that. Another thing that he kinda got right, was portraying Latin culture and it really shows here. Despite having a Ray Bradbury writing credit and an impressive cast, the movie would, end up getting buried. It wasn't release in theater, and only receive a direct-to-video release, which garner very little attention. For a PG movie, it was a bit weird to see all the over the top smoking/drinking, but it didn't bug me, so much. Overall: It's watchable. Just wish, it was better.
