MI AMERICA
Industrial House Films
Reviewed by: Harvey Karten for Shockya. Databased on Rotten Tomatoes.
Grade: C+
Director: Robert Fontaine Jr.
Written by:Robert Fontaine Jr.
Cast: Robert Fontaine Jr., Brad Lee Wind, Michael Brainard, Boyd Grant, Angel Valle Jr., Mariana Fernández
Screened at: Review 2, NYC, 10/1/15
Opens: October 16, 2015
What’s happening with America? I thought that our country had made great progress in race relations and of course we had. We have an African-American President, another Black man is running for President and enjoys a place in the polls second to Donald Trump, a South African man has taken over the emcee role on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show. Maybe, though, I’ve been living in liberal New York City for too long, though it’s not that big, coastal metropolises could be models for More’s “Utopia,” but based on Robert Fontaine Jr.’s “Mi America,” racist attacks on Hispanic Americans, particularly those of Amer-Indian roots, are increasing dramatically. Fontaine hones in on Braxton, a small coastal town in upstate New York, where one wonders why Hispanics, part of that city’s multiracial population, do not either move or form gangs to fight against white oppression.
After giving some examples to help prove his point, Fontaine takes a brief look at a school where a bunch of white girls throw a barrage of insults at the daughter of Roe Ramirez (the director, Mr. Fontaine), calling her “half-breed.” But Fontaine’s real target and chief villain is Tom Anderson (Michael Brainard), Tom loses a contract to a minority-owned firm, which increases his anti-Hispanic hatred. He may or may not have hired a band of goons who early on in the story attacked five Hispanics and killed them all. This leads Detective Roe Ramirez (himself a Hispanic, obviously), to go all out against these xenophobic residents who despise the “other” not because they are taking jobs away from whites. After all, we see a group of Hispanics line up in the early morning for day laborer jobs shunned by whites, and even then, only about half are chosen to be trucked to a work site.
Now and then an attack is conducted, the masked haters carrying sticks. They beat their enemies to a pulp, kicking for good measure, while Detective Ramirez goes after the hoodlums one by one. The detective also helps one lad, who had pulled a gun on him when not realizing he was messing with a cop. The young man, who could have taken advantage of athletic scholarships, is taken on by a school soccer team but suffers a few beatings for the usual reason.
There are so many characters in this noirish detective story that audience members cannot help being confused. Nor can we ascertain any motivation for the extreme beatings other than simply hate. The film has the look of a classic drama on the subject but it is overlong at over two hours and frequently dissolves into nothing more than mayhem.
Unrated. 126 minutes. © Harvey Karten, Member, New York Film Critics Online
Story – C
Acting – B-
Technical – B-
Overall – C+