Intro

Like any movie during the 2013 season of Cinequest, I opted to watch this movie not knowing the plot. I thought it was a film about dreams and optimism. I was about to find out what this film was truly about.

Plot

Joe Rodriguez has a nice job, a college degree, and a loving family. He is on his way up in life with his hard work, intelligence, and a great support system. Nothing wrong could happen until one day, his job finds out about him being potentially unidentified and not being an American citizen. He must find a way to redeem his job, his life, his family, and his sanity back.

Good

It was an emotionally powerful film because I feel that I know a lot of people that may relate to that situation. I personally can’t relate, but I know what it’s like to have an entire world crumbling around me.

I enjoyed the fact that it doesn’t matter where you came from. It matters how much you put into society. It doesn’t matter about skin tone or anything else. A family is about love and support.

Bad

This isn’t really a bad thing, but I also watched another movie during the same Cinequest season with a similar story about a person who tries to make it in this country with hard work only to have it potentially taken away due to glitches in the immigration rights called “The Citizen”. It was hard to choose which one I had enjoyed more, and I kept comparing the two which I shouldn’t have done because both movies were great.

Overview

I really enjoyed this movie as it gave me optimism that hard work does pay off no matter where you came from and that you don’t need the same genetics to be considered a family. There are people that we all consider family despite not looking similar in skin tone, hair, or anything else.

Overall rating: 4/5

Reviewed by: Mr. Timtastic