From a historical perspective however, the film does a great job of investigating the origins of the Hispanic Gang in Southern California. And it's a great introduction to a violent and forgotten era of Los Angeles - the Zoot Suit Riots. Yes, this movie of gangs starts this early in history, before moving on to the Chino sporting gangs of the late 60's. Montoya Santana's father, a zoot suiter, naturally influences his son's life, partially by his absence. Soon, we see Santana, living the typical gangster's life - protecting turf and generally scrapping with everyone that comes around. Much unlike the gangs of today and contrasted greatly with the events later in the film, they protect with fists and taunts, not guns. It's no more morally correct, but it just seems a lot less violent.

Soon, Santana is a jaded prison inmate and given his intelligence and determination, he runs the entire Mexican Mafia from the confines of his cell. He schemes, he regrets, he gets out and he goes back to the same thing in a cycle of predictability. And that's pretty much it. The only real treat is watching the actors play quite effectively, people of different ages. Also to note is Edward James Olmos' excellent direction of the movie. It's plain and straightforward with few frills, yet moves rather confidently through time and the origins of the characters.

As a historical document (both of the early 90's gang strife and of Hispanic gangs in general) American Me is an interesting enough piece of filmmaking, but as a drama, perhaps not as much so. You just don't care about the care about the characters enough to become vested in their story.

Movie Grade: C

Video: 2 out of 5
The transfer is pretty skanky, and given the disc's relatively recent release, I'm a little disappointed.
Widescreen Anamorphic 1.85:1