{"id":4276,"date":"2024-10-05T02:37:51","date_gmt":"2024-10-05T02:37:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=4276"},"modified":"2024-10-12T21:08:51","modified_gmt":"2024-10-12T21:08:51","slug":"la-bamba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/10\/05\/la-bamba\/","title":{"rendered":"La Bamba"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"La Bamba<\/strong> (1987)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Columbia\/Drama-Musical\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 109 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG-13 (language, violence, brief nudity, sexuality, drug content, alcohol abuse)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Luis Valdez\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Luis Valdez\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Miles Goodman and Carlos Santana\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Adam Greenberg\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: July 24, 1987 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Lou Diamond Phillips, Esai Morales, Rosanna DeSoto, Danielle von Zerneck, Elizabeth Pena, Joe Pantoliano, Sam Anderson, Maggie Gwinn, Rick Dees, Marshall Crenshaw, Stephen Lee, Brian Setzer, Howard Huntsberry, Jeffrey Alan Chandler, Noble Willingham.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $54.2M (US)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ****<\/p>\n

\u00a0February 3, 1959, immortalized in Don McLean\u2019s 1971 hit song \u201cAmerican Pie\u201d, will forever be known as \u201cThe Day the Music Died\u201d. En route to a gig in Minnesota on their Winter Dance Party tour, rockers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper were killed when their plane went down in Iowa. It was a huge loss for the music industry and music fans alike. Holly\u2019s story was told in the excellent 1978 biopic The Buddy Holly Story starring a young Gary Busey as the \u201cThat\u2019ll Be the Day\u201d singer. Now it\u2019s Valens\u2019 turn with La Bamba<\/strong>, an equally terrific biopic of the singer who had three hits before his life tragically ended at the tender age of 17. He wasn\u2019t even out of high school yet.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Lou Diamond Phillips (Young Guns) plays Valens who we first meet living in a migrant camp with his mother Connie (DeSoto, Stand and Deliver) and younger sisters. This is back when he was just Richard Valenzuela. One day, his older, motorcycle-riding half-brother Bob (Morales, Bad Boys) arrives on the scene to take them away from this life to a slightly better one thanks to the money he makes smuggling weed across the Mexican border. Ritchie, who never goes anywhere without his guitar, is the favored one. He dreams of being a big rock star someday. What he doesn\u2019t know is that his dream is about to come true.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Speaking of dreams, Ritchie is plagued by nightmares of the mid-air plane collision over his old school that killed his best friend. This tragedy was the cause of his intense fear of flying. While presented like a hazy memory (underscored by Santo & Johnny\u2019s \u201cSleep Walk\u201d), it can also be taken as a premonition of events to come. It\u2019s an effective scene that makes Ritchie\u2019s premature demise resonate even louder.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Ritchie is discovered by music producer Bob Keane (Pantoliano, Risky Business) when he performs at the local American Legion hall, a gig arranged by his mother. He sees great potential in this kid and wants to record him. He\u2019s also the one that came up with his stage name Ritchie Valens. Of course, Ritchie goes on to huge success with his hits \u201cCome On, Let\u2019s Go\u201d, \u201cDonna\u201d and signature song \u201cLa Bamba\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The main drama in La Bamba<\/strong> comes from the contentious relationship between Ritchie and older brother Bob, jealous of his success and the preferential treatment he receives from their mother. He\u2019s angry, often drunk and abusive towards his pregnant girlfriend Rosie (Pena, Down and Out in Beverly Hills) who he stole from Ritchie. Bob discovers he has a knack for drawing and even wins an art contest but nobody seems to care because they\u2019re so focused on Ritchie and his rising career. The movie also depicts his relationship with his girlfriend Donna (Zerneck, My Science Project), a blonde-haired WASP whose bigoted parents don\u2019t approve of her dating a Mexican-American boy. BTW, she\u2019s the obvious inspiration for one of his songs. Guess which one?<\/p>\n

\u00a0The ending of La Bamba<\/strong> is a foregone conclusion. You know Valens\u2019 fate going in. He dies just as his career is taking off (no joke intended). Now you would think this would make for a depressing movie. It\u2019s not. Yes, a pallor of sadness hovers over the proceedings but La Bamba<\/strong> is anything but depressing. It\u2019s anything but. Phillips, in a remarkable debut performance, plays Ritchie as a young man who plays music for the pure joy of it. It helps, of course, that he has loads of natural talent. He\u2019s dedicated to his craft to the point of near-obsession. But that\u2019s not all there is to Ritchie Valens. He\u2019s a serious, introspective and intensely focused young man whose dedication to his family is the primary driving force behind his ambition. He promises his mother to buy her the house of her dreams, a promise you know will be kept.<\/p>\n

\u00a0However, Phillips\u2019 scenes with Morales are the real dramatic backbone of La Bamba<\/strong>. Brotherly relationships can be extremely complicated and messy. It\u2019s amazing how you can love and hate somebody at the same time. Bob, although jealous of what his little brother has, would go the ends of earth for him. He\u2019s supportive when it counts. They even take an impromptu trip to Tijuana together so Ritchie can lose his virginity. Not surprisingly, he\u2019s more interested in the band (Los Lobos who perform Valens\u2019 music for the movie) at the bordello playing the traditional Mexican folk song that serves as the movie\u2019s title. As Bob, Morales oozes anger and volatility, especially when he drinks. He has a dangerous charisma with his leather jacket, moustache and motorcycle. He does a terrific job as does Zerneck as the girlfriend clearly in love, but forced by her narrow-minded dad to end things with Ritchie.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I only have one issue with La Bamba<\/strong>, an otherwise flawless movie. Donna ends things with Ritchie but appears to be back with him a few scenes later. What happened? Did her parents change their minds? Did she tell them to go f*** themselves? I think a word or scene of explanation is in order here. Aside from that small glitch, La Bamba<\/strong> is an outstanding biopic about a rocker who might have gone big time if not for tragic fate.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The music, of course, is phenomenal. And I\u2019m not just talking about Valens\u2019 songs. Brian Setzer of the Stray Cats, doing a dead-on impression of Eddie Cochran, does an awesome version of \u201cSummertime Blues\u201d. New Wave rocker Marshall Crenshaw (\u201cSomeday, Someway\u201d) does a decent Buddy Holly. Stephen Lee (RoboCop 2) is a bit over the top as The Big Bopper the way he goes around saying \u201cHello, baby!\u201d to everybody. Written and directed by Luis Valdez (Zoot Suit), La Bamba<\/strong> is a fascinating and energetic biopic that moves to a cool rock-and-roll beat. Now where\u2019s the Big Bopper biopic Chantilly Lace? I\u2019m still waiting.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

La Bamba (1987)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Columbia\/Drama-Musical\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 109 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG-13 (language, violence, brief nudity, sexuality, drug content, alcohol abuse)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Luis Valdez\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Luis Valdez\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Miles Goodman and Carlos Santana\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Adam Greenberg\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: July 24, 1987 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Lou Diamond Phillips, Esai Morales, Rosanna DeSoto, Danielle von Zerneck, Elizabeth Pena, Joe Pantoliano, Sam […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5033,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dramas"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/La-Bamba-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4276"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5034,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4276\/revisions\/5034"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}