Hangin' with the Homeboys

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source: Hangin' with the Homeboys

The thing that attracts me to movies these days are good characters. Some movies I enjoy because of the plot, and others simply for the action, but what really goes into a good movie are good characters. The Waterboy had good characters and that is why I love it so much. The thing that sets Hanging with the Homeboys apart from other movies are the characters. This movie is about four guys who go out on a Friday night to simply hang together. This one Friday night is the night in which their lives turn around because they are confronted with the realities of their situation. There are two Negroes and two Puerto Ricans and each of these characters are the opposites of the other. Willie and Tom are both Negroes. Tom is a telemarketer who has dreams of being an actor while Willie is unemployed and has a huge persecution complex. Everything that goes against him is because he is a Negro and he cannot see past white man's prejudice against him. Tom though is a complete antithesis of this. He is actually successful. Even though he is not an actor, he is trying very hard to become one. He has a job and he is earning money in this job, where as Willie has none and is constantly bumming money off of people. Throughout the movie, Willie is constantly confronted by Negro bums and his mates point out to him that this is what he is going to become one day if he doesn't stand up for himself. He also attacks a Negro woman, Lala, for betraying his kind and hanging out in the Whiteman's world. To this she brutally attacks him, revealing to him that he lives in a persecuted world yet has no desire to drag himself out of it. It is only when Tom refuses to give him money for food, that he looks at the bums and sees himself there. We do not know what happens after with Willie. He has the opportunity of going to Brooklyn to work, but whether he does or not we do not know. Vince and Johnny are the Puerto Ricans. Johnny accepts who he is and is more concerned about the other people in the world who are suffering. Vince, whose real name is Fernando, does not like Johnny because Johnny reveals to him a side that he does not want to see. He would rather Johnny disappear so that he can continue to live in his dream world, believing that he is an Italian. When confronted by an Italian transit cop, he is derided for the fact that he has no pride in his heritage. Johnny has the opportunity to go to collage, but he is deliberating on it. This weekend is the last weekend he has the scholarship open to him. He knows he can get it, but he is not sure that collage is right for him. His work mates encourage him to go, but his friends say that it is a waste of time. It is not until a girl sits next to him and tells him that he is a fool not to go that he decides to. This woman is interesting as Vince is trying to get a girl all night, and this woman walks away from him and sits next to Johnny. She then takes him to a pool hall, and then says that she wants to be his friend. Vince cannot accept this. He has to weasel his way into a woman's life while this one woman walks straight up to Johnny and offers to be his friend. Vince does get a girl in the end, and it is the girl that Johnny believed to be innocent and virginal only to see her acting in a XXX movie. This is a good movie with good characters who each have a meaning to them. Even the most shallow character, Vince, has depth to him because of his roots. This movie is a very good movie, and makes one think back to the friends I used to hang with every Friday night.

This film made me laugh. It is good to be surprised by a movie you didn't expect much from. The movie is special. If it is a cult movie I think it is because it speaks to the heart. It a movie about hanging with the guys. It spoke to me and I'm a white middle-class dude from the Midwest. The cast did a great job. The director is deceased and should have received more recognition. I will definitely find a copy of this for my library. I will definitely tell others about it. I have to make this ten lines or they won't print it. I don't know what IMDb wants. I am telling you to see this movie. It is about guys in the city on the bad side of town going out on the town. Thanks for a great film.

I starting watching this on Comedy Central and assumed "oh, a film about some guys partying in the Bronx...i'll give it a whirl." I was not expecting a curiously sincere, although somewhat slap-stick, film about class differences in NYC. The four characters represent the spectrum of what any struggling urban area would produce: a loaner who blames his race on his inability to thrive in society, an actor who tries but eventually fails to make his movie dreams a reality, a gigolo who denies his often maligned heritage in order to court women, and a genuinely earnest stock-boy who secretly desires to do what few in his position are able to: leave the monotony of dead-end beginnings and go to college and experience the world. After each character is introduced, the film follows the journey of the men from areas of the Bronx (where beer bottles are thrown at the car after a protective father hears one of the men whistling at his daughter) to Midtown Manhattan, where the group partake in some harmless pre-Giuliani peep-show fun. I rarely comment on films, but I thoroughly enjoyed this 'Hunt's Point Odyssey'. Some of the messages the film tries to convey are done so unrealistically, however, some of the scenes are moving and authentic (an interrogation scene involving a racist Italian subway cop who discredits the gigolo's purported identity by reacquainting him with his given Hispanic name on a driver's license, in an attempt to further emblaze immovable class lines). Many cities contain areas with steep social and economic gradations, but none compare to NYC. It was entertaining to watch the small victories and defeats of each of these men who are somewhat pathetic, but all share common goal of enjoying themselves. Their journey is a painful reminder of the difficulty inherent in trying to escape the oft-referred realizations of each of their 'seemingly inescapable and meager' respective destinies. Most (if not all) of the main actors grew up in NYC, and I think that helps to add a sense of realism to their performance. If you have an open mind and don't mind the unmistakable sound of early 90s rap soundtracks, get this film. Perhaps you will enjoy it as much as I did.

A great movie. Seldom are young, urban men portrayed so humanely. The movie is very funny, but not superficial. They are confused young men trying to understand the world, women, and themselves. The film breaks movie stereotypes for these guys are struggling to make it in the world without crime, drugs or violence. Each of the 4 characters are well developed and wonderfully acted. The direction is great. NYC itself is almost a character in the film. The guys and the film takes place in the Bronx. Manhattan is viewed as the center of the universe while the Bronx (and they themselves) feel alienated from Manhattan and "making it." They're feelings of not really fitting in is demonstrated in their unwillingness to go to Manhattan. I've used the film in some of my college classrooms to discuss male friendships and male-female relationships. Great film!!!

I loved this movie. I must have watched it at least 10 times in my life because it's just that good. Usually when I watch it, it's because I recommend it to somebody who has never even heard of it, so I feel the need to let them see my copy. They usually thank me afterwards and agree that it is excellent. It's strange that such a great movie gets so little credit. Not that people don't like it, I guess it's because most people never heard of it. It's a shame. Next time you go to the video store, keep this one in mind. John Leguizamo does an excellent job in this movie, probably the best performance I've seen from him to this day. Doug E Doug also does a great job in this movie. Although you may not be too familiar with the rest of the small cast, don't let this stop you from checking this movie out, great performances all around. When watching this one, you really get interested in the characters as they are all unique in their own way. Johnny is a shy, honest, hard working young man who lacks experience with women. Willie is an angry man who would rather complain about his situation rather than do anything about it, but deep down he means well. Tommy is a struggling actor with woman troubles and the only one with a car. Last but not least, we have Fernando (or should I say "Vinny"), a self centered womanizer who thinks he is Italian (watch the movie and you'll see what I mean). These four friends go out on the town from the Bronx to Manhattan looking for good times and find themselves in some memorable situations. It's a lot like real life and what makes this movie so great is how the characters relate to each other. The introduction of all the characters is definitely something to see. Great directing, nice cinematography, excellent dialog and not too bad of a sound track. What more can I say. I recommend this movie to everybody, especially if you like comedies with original jokes that go beyond cheap gags. If you like going out with a small group of friends on a Friday night looking for something to do, this movie will remind you of all those good times. I highly recommend it, so rent it next time you go to the video store.

The four main characters complemented each other very well. The movie was very intelligently written. It was funny and moving. The ending is quite appropriate as the overall film is just a snapshot of one Friday night of these four bickering friends. I'm especially fond of Nestor Serrano's work in portraying Vinny/Fernando. Even though he was supposed to be a selfish womanizer, he did have certain qualities that made me sympathize with him. (For example, he did come to Willie's aid when he was thrown out of the party by the bigots, even though it meant giving up a chance with one of the few women in the movie who didn't flat out ignore his come-ons.)

Director Joseph B. Vasquez knew his subject when he made movies based around the inner city ghettos of the Bronx and Harlem, NYC. A product of that certain time and place, child of a single, heroin addicted mother, Vasquez was no stranger to the rough streets of the South Bronx during the 70's and 80's. The fact that he managed to avoid the pitfalls of his upbringing and make it through film school, and wound up directing movies, is beyond impressive. This guy has my utmost respect. After directing two excellent urban crime dramas, Vasquez turned his attentions to directing a comedy, about one day and one night in the life of four best friends.Willie and Tommy,are Black, Tommy is an aspiring actor who takes his dream seriously, while Willie would rather collect welfare and blame all of his problems on his skin color. Their two Puerto Rican buddies, Johnny and Fernando, also want to escape their realities in their own way. Johnny, (an early role for the excellent John Leguizamo) is an under-achiever, working in a supermarket because he doesn't have the self confidence to pursue a college education. He's also a hopeless romantic, in love with a girl he barely knows, who turns out to be anything but the innocent, sweet girl he imagined her to be. Fernando, the most messed up of all the guys in the bunch, is ashamed of his own Puerto Rican heritage, and tells people he is an Italian named Vinnie. Fernando has his pride eviscerated by a racist Italian cop, in one of the movie's best and most powerful dramatic scenes. In fact, all of the best scenes are the serious, dramatic ones, while the comedy doesn't always work, and is sometimes painfully juvenile and just not that funny. And this is the most unfortunate thing about the movie; if the director had played "Hangin' with the Homeboys" as a drama, with comedic overtones, we might have had an absolute classic. This is because drama is what Joe Vasquez did best. Before "Homeboys" Vasquez created two of the absolute BEST low budget, urban crime dramas of the 80's; His first film, called "Street Story" is a genre masterpiece, a description I rarely use when describing movies. Raw and realistic, "Street Story" tells the tale of an inner-city "hero,' famous in the neighborhood for his way with the ladies and his fighting prowess. Shot in grainy, 16 millimeter, this virtually unheard of genre classic is reminiscent of early Roberto Rossellini or Pier Paolo Pasolini, his "Accattone' in particular, the way his camera follows around it's main characters as we witness their sometimes comedic, but always tragic dealings with the pimps and prostitutes, hustlers and losers of the ghetto. He followed that movie up with "Bronx War," another fantastic urban crime film, where the dramatic elements were as exciting and involving as the violent gang war that the movie centers around. Somehow those two wonderful films slipped by, unnoticed and ignored. I'm guessing "Hangin With the Homeboys" was Vasquez' attempt to achieve some mainstream attention, and it worked.."Homeboys" is his most successful and well-known movie. His final movie, "Manhattan Merengue" was his failure. It couldn't even find distribution in North America, which greatly upset Joe Vasquez, who sadly ended his life after succumbing to the drug and crime lifestyle that he had managed to avoid for so long. For fans of "Hangin with the Homeboys" I sincerely recommend searching for the two earlier films of the short but fascinating career of Joseph B. Vasquez. "Street Story" especially, which has an almost 8 star rating here, proving that there are fans who recognize the excellence of this guy's early work..

Four friends spend a Friday evening cruising around New York in this offbeat comedy-drama blend. The plot on the surface is pretty simple, but the film has some unexpected dimensions, evidenced by the terrific opening scene in which see how the racially diverse friends play on the fears and prejudices of others for laughs. And with two Puerto Ricans in the group (one who likes to trick girls into thinking that he's Italian) and two African Americans (one of whom plays the race card whenever things do not go his way), they are certainly a mixed bunch. All four actors are great in their roles and have very well developed characters who we come to know as individuals as the film progresses, each with their own insecurities - though some more pronounced than others. As the movie pans out, each friend undergoes an awakening of some sort as their fun Friday night on the town turns out to be an evening that causes them to reflect on their lives. The film is not as serious as all that though and there are several excellent comedic moments as the friends bet on whether certain girls are hot, try to see a X-rated film together and conduct business with a mysterious Jamaican in an alleyway.