I’m not really sure why I added this one to my Netflix queue. I think it was suggested to me as something I might like. Writen, directed and produced by Peter Sollett - you might recognize his name in conjunction with a new film coming out, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist starring the ever-funny Michael Cera. I wasn’t really sure what to think of this film. I think part of the confusion was with the title. Raising Victor Vargas would imply it might be about Victor growing up or his parents raising him or something. The story starts off with Victor being ashamed everyone in the neighborhood knows he’s dating a “fat chick.” So he heads to the pool with his sidekick to try and change his reputation. We eventually get clued in to his interesting homelife and his grandmother who is raising him. So I thought maybe the story would be centered on the grandmother, but it wasn’t. I want to say I didn’t understand the point of the story, but that just sounds bad…even though I still feel that way.
If you check out the cast list on IMDB, you’ll notice that most of the characters real names are also their character names. I’ve always though that must make the acting a little bit easier. The two people I recognized were Melonie Diaz from Be Kind, Rewind, and Victor Rasuk from Lords of Dogtown and I’m Reed Fish. I appreciated the effort put into accents and vernacular. It seemed to fit the time and place, or maybe it’s just what I’m used to from watching TV.
Overall I wasn’t really thrilled with this one. I know movies can just be entertainment; they dont’ have to always teach you a lesson. This one didn’t seem to have a lesson, there wasn’t any major closure, there didn’t even seem to be much of a character change in anyone.
Rating: 
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