November 19, 2005

Raising Victor Vargas

The first time I saw Raising Victor Vargas was when its DVD slip cover caught my attention at a Blockbuster store. I never ended up grabbing it though. The movie is kind of short, and comes up a little lacking in the directorial department. Initially the story seemed a bit stupid, but about half way in, things start to move in a new direction. What this film turns out to be is a lesson in growing up and recognizing people for who they are instead of who you think or want them to be. That this happens to all of the characters involved makes this growth all the more interesting.

While the production values were low, the acting was pretty good. Especially for relatively young and inexperienced actors. I also found it interesting to learn during the ending credits that the majority of actors involved have real names that are partially the same as their character names.

Another tidbit that may be considered interesting, but probably reflects poorly upon director and writer Peter Sollet, is that the same people were used in his previous film Five Feet High and Rising, with the same actors and names, in the same location. A brief look implies that Five Feet High and Rising is actually a prequel to Raising Victor Vargas. And, it is also about growing up as a person. Most likely, as this first film is only 29 minutes long, Raising Victor Vargas is the film Peter Sollet originally wanted to make.

Anyway, that's all conjecture.

Posted by josuah at November 19, 2005 8:31 AM UTC+00:00

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