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Plot:
Actor-turned-director Edward James Olmos set out to spread the word against the destructiveness of gang violence with this 1992 gritty drama. Set in the barrios of East Los Angeles, he attempts to cov...( read more 
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Meet Other Fans
Recent Reviews
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MCT:July 18, 2008Underrated and under appreciated, American Me is a film about the disreputable subculture of Hispanic gang life in America. Directed by and starring Edward James Olmos, it's an inside-out look at the Mexican-American Mafia (La Eme). Olmos uses many real-life gang members as extras and supporting characters to give the film it's honest sense of realism. This directorial debut is not without its flaws, but for the most part it has real substance and character. A powerful film that I enjoy watching over and over again.
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MCT:June 24, 2008Excellent as a movie. Plus, a few of the consultants for this movie were killed because they allowed one little mistake into the script. Oops. Still, Edward James Olmos was never better, either before or since, not even on Miami Vice, which he was good on too.
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MCT:April 24, 2008This was a very powerful movie ... but it was too much for me... when it came out on video (yes i said video) my whole family decide to watch it and not all together so it was burned out.
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MCT:January 23, 2008
According to "60 Minutes" (1968), three people who acted as consultants on this film were later murdered because of the depiction of a homosexual rape scene that reportedly deeply offended the Mexican Mafia's machismo.
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MCT:November 26, 2007
I tend to see Edward James Olmos on a cover or cast list and immediately lose interest.
Don't get me wrong, this is technically unfair because I actually think Olmos is a very good actor, but I find he tends to show up in lame movies which waste his talent. I later noted positive reviews--and then that Olmos in fact directed this one. I was more interested now, since it's better not to see someone with talent wasted, and surely he wouldn't waste his OWN talent.
Inspired by the story of Rodolfo Cadena, one of the founders of La Eme (aka the Mexican Mafia), but fictionalizing elements (surprise, surprise!) of his life and generalizing things a bit, this is essentially just that, the story of a founder of La Eme. Montoya Santana (Olmos as an adult, Panchito Gómez as a youth) is a Chicano kid who grows up in "the Barrio" of East L.A., forming a gang with pals Mundo (Richard Coca, later Pepe Serna) and J.D. (Steve Wilcox, then William Forsythe) called La Primera. They take a shortcut through another gang's territory one night and break into a diner--the owner of which happens to live adjacent and catches them, leading to juvenile detention for the lot, and a prosthetic leg for J.D. (thus building his correlation to the real Joe "Pegleg" Morgan, and explaining why a white kid is talking with a Chicano accent and is such a close buddy with a Chicano from East L.A.). Events there bring them all to prison eventually, where La Eme is really born and they begin to control Folsom Prison from the inside, the drug trade, prostitution, everything.
Essentially, the film functions as a vehicle for Olmos' own interest in preventing and discouraging gang membership, which is a subject near and dear to him as he grew up in East Los Angeles himself.
He makes interesting choices throughout, with an actor-mounted camera during a depiction of the 1940s' Zoot Suit Riots as the man is carried out into the street by marauding sailors. The soundtrack is composed of 1950s classics and 60s and 70s pop like a Los Lobos cover of "Shotgun" and Ike and Tina doing Sly Stone's "Higher," as well as a stirring, bombastic sort of score with strong, loud strings. The entire plot is told in flashback from Santana's own narration, occasionally poetic, as he recounts the story of his birth all the way through the incarceration we first see him in when he begins telling us.
It's not a movie that jumps up and kicks you, dramatically, nor is it one that you cringe through or restrain cringes through. The message certainly kicks you because it's all very authentic. As much as we grow up with Santana and gain some kind of empathy with him, he never becomes a happy, positive role model--not even close. Even when we see him outside the prison, even when we see him with a woman he sort of cares about, even when he finally starts to accept some responsibility for his actions. It is acknowledged that the film is pretty brutal. It's not gory, and it's not quite Scorsese level brutal, but it is pretty dark, bleak and matter-of-fact about its violence and rape, which adds an appropriate air of authenticity to the whole affair, making for an interesting and good viewing experience overall, though not the happiest one in the world. -
MCT:July 14, 2007Gripping story of the rise to power of a prison gang and the effects it has on society inside and outside the prison system
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MCT:July 5, 2007
No words suffice to describe the horror that is depicted in this film. It is thus an excellent piece about prision gangs.
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MCT:July 5, 2007
another great popcorn flick,realistic violence, some sappy scenes , the rise and fall of a jailhouse emporer.
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MCT:June 9, 2007tough shit to be an hombre in the joint....still think Edward could've ruled the joint had he never left prison
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MCT:May 18, 2007
A more modern day tale of todays Mexican Mafia. As close as you can get to the 'La Eme' without having to join it. You see the ruthlessness of what it take to be one of the most notorious gangs in our time. Excellently acted and directed. All actors are without a doubt at their best. Highly recommended.
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MCT:May 3, 2007
Awesome flick about gangs and how one learns life lessons in prison and changing to become a better individual.
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MCT:May 2, 2007
the reason i like this movie is it was filmed in my old neighborhood and reminds me when i used to be in a gang
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MCT:April 30, 2007
Solid crime/prison drama. Acting is a bit borderline in places but it's made up by the utter brutality of prison life.
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MCT:March 27, 2007
This film is reality!!!! Some scenes were hard to see......but not beyond belief.
The story was clear on what respect meant. The actors and cast were " Awesome" -
MCT:March 19, 2007
ANOTHER GREAT MOVIE OF HISPNIC CULTURE OF HOW WE ARE IN THIS WORLD ALMOST EVERY PLACE U SEE HISPANICS THIS IS THEIR LIVES!! RESPECT IT NOT FEAR IT!!
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MCT:February 9, 2007
the story of a real gangster's life ... nomber one movie!!! ohhh and u all should see the documentarie of this movie, it's crazy and sad too, cuz it's real!!
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MCT:February 7, 2007
They should show this movie to juvenille delinquents as a way to discourage them from continuing forward with careers in crime.
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MCT:December 27, 2006
Montoya Santana: I'm sorry to hear about Neto.
Yolanda: I don't know what to say to you.
Montoya Santana: Whatever, you know.
Yolanda: You're like two people. One is like a kid. Doesn't know how to dance, doesn't know how to make love. That's the one I cared about. But the other one, the other one I hate. The one who knows, the one who has this wrapdown, who knows how to run drugs, who kills people!
Essentially, this movie is the Goodfellas to East LA. Olmos starts as a man who has spent most of his life in prison, where we see him develop gangs from within. Prison does not change him for the better concerning crime, he keep his mind focused on what is the best way to achieve his wants. He is not an evil person, he is against drugs and wants people to coexist peacfully, but methods he goes with are violent. Upon leaving Prison, he likes how things are on the outside, but is not as much a hero as he was inside, it challenges him. There is a very good message that comes with this story, which was based off true events. It is hard and gritty, with a great performance from Olmos. -
MCT:December 26, 2006
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MCT:December 17, 2006
A look at the Mexican gangs in Prison. Awesome story and Edward James Olmos is superb in portraying the leader
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MCT:December 5, 2006
next best movie.. i have already met a guy from this movie.. hes on the cover.. the one with the white hat with the stripe.. and sunglasses.. he was at mi casa.. lol.. just chillin
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MCT:November 8, 2006
this movie is tight. it's a great movie, acted out perfect, it showed a lot, but it's what happened.
