Starring Lou Diamond Phillips, Esai Morales, Danielle von Zerneck, and Rosanna DeSoto
Directed by Luis Valdez
Music and Lyrics by various
This week, we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with three biographies of famous Latinos whose lives ended tragically. Richie Valens was on the cusp of a major career when he was among those who lost their lives in the 1959 plane crash that also claimed the lives of Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper. Valens was the youngest of the trio at 17 when the crash occurred, with two huge hits roaring up the charts in "La Bamba" and "Donna." He was only a teen with his life ahead of him, but fate had much sadder plans. How well does this movie capture his life and the events leading up to the crash? Let's begin with a nightmare, as Richie (Phillips) recalls his best friend's death after debris from a plane crash fell on his school, and find out...
The Story: Richie Valenzuela lives with his mother Connie (DeSoto) and his younger siblings in Northern California. He works as a farm hand to make money for the family after school, but his heart is really in the brand-new world of rock and roll. When his older brother Bob (Morales) gets out of prison, he encourages all of them to leave the farm and move south to the San Fernando Valley with him and his girlfriend Rosie (Elizabeth Pena).
Their lives aren't much easier in Southern California. Even as Richie falls for sweet Donna (von Zerneck) at school, Bob becomes an alcoholic and abuses Rosie. Richie joins a local band, the Silhouettes, and starts playing gigs. He eventually moves up to leader of the group after the original singer is voted out. Unfortunately, Bob continues to make trouble, starting a brawl at one of the parties they play at. Fortunately, producer Bob Keane (Joe Pantoliano) is impressed with Richie's playing anyway and offers him a contract.
Richie becomes a smash success with hits like "Come On, Let's Go," but things aren't going as well elsewhere in his life. Bob is jealous and resentful of the attention he gets from their mother, and Donna's father (Sam Anderson) won't let her date a Mexican-American. Richie writes "Donna" in the hope of convincing her father he's worthy of her. He's even able to conquer his fear of flying and appear on American Bandstand. He's excited when he's asked to join the Winter Dance Party tour with Buddy Holly (Marshall Crenshaw), the Big Bopper (Stephen Lee) and Dion and the Belmonts. He even manages to make up with Bob the night before he's hoping to finally conquer that fear of flying by riding in a small plane with Holly and the Big Bopper to their next tour date...
The Song and Dance: This one is all about the music and Phillips' raw and open performance. He became a star after this came out, and it's not surprising. Despite being at least seven years older than Richie was when he died, Phillips beautifully captures the ambitious teenager's energy and rebellious spirit. Morales and DeSoto are also excellent as his resentful, troubled older brother and the mother who loves her sons but seemingly favors Richie. Location shooting in California adds to the feeling of intimacy. There's some terrific cameos, too. As a long-time Brian Setzer fan, his short but memorable appearance as early rock pioneer Eddie Cochran was my favorite.
Favorite Number: Our first full number is Richie tearing through "Rip It Up" in his audition for the Silhouettes. Their original singer's attempts at "Charlena" and "Goodnight My Love" at the first garage party are embarrassingly amateurish and overly dramatic. Let's say, he's no Elvis. Richie shows how bad he was at a club, where they perform "Oh Boy!" with his brother on the drums. Even his mother ends up dancing along. The second garage party begins well, with Richie and his band really getting into his hit "Ooh My Head," Unfortunately, the second number, "Framed," is marred by his brother showing up and starting a brawl.
Bob Keane discovers him singing his own "Paddi-Wack Song" for his siblings' birthday at their home. He eventually gets him to record "We Belong Together," which becomes a montage of him and Donna making out at the movies and falling for each other. His second recorded number is another familiar hit, "Come On, Let's Go." Keane scolds him for not recording the lyrics as written, but Richie wants to sing how he feels it. He sings "Donna" in a phone booth in the hope of getting through to her after her father forbids her from seeing him. Richie first hears the title song in a brothel in Tijuana; he adapts it as his other major hit (and the major hit from this movie).
After a fuller reprise of "Donna" in the studio, Richie hits the road to appear in American Bandstand. Brian Setzer does even better, really rocking Eddie Cochran's major hit "Summertime Blues" and impressing Richie and the viewers. Howard Huntsbury has just as much fun when we see him performing Jackie Wilson's hit "Lonely Teardrops." Richie finally gets to be equally impressive with the full "La Bamba" that's so energetic, the audience claps along. Marshall Crenshaw does a passable Buddy Holly with his "Crying, Waiting, Hoping."
Trivia: Though Valens really did win his seat on the plane in a coin toss, he wasn't one of the ones who got sick. The Big Bopper was the one who got the flu, and he begged Buddy Holly's bassist Waylon Jennings for the chance to ride in the heated plane. Valens did his fateful coin toss with Tommy Allsup in their dressing rooms at the Surf Ballroom, not on the airplane hanger.
The title song became a top ten hit all over again in late summer 1987 for Los Lobos, who performed all of Richie's songs in the movie.
Frankly, that Winter Party Tour seems to have been doomed from the start. It was badly organized, with the singers criss-crossing the Midwest in ancient busses with no heat that were forever breaking down instead of going in a normal circular pattern. In fact, Holly chartered that plane so he could get to their next destination and get laundry done before the next show. It did continue after the deaths of the main attractions, and even gave Bobby Vee his start as the replacement for Valens.
What I Don't Like: I'll pass Phillips actually being Filipino-American on the basis of his great performance, but I do wish there had been more Latinos represented in the cast. Not all of the performances land, either. Van Zerneck is cute but not a whole lot else, and Pena mostly disappears in the second half when the focus shifts to Richie's career and the brothers. The dialogue can get a little stilted at times, especially during more dramatic discussions or some of the obvious foreshadowing with Richie's fear of planes.
The Big Finale: Highly recommended for fans of classic rock or Chicano rock for the great music and Phillips' sterling performance.
Home Media: Easily found on disc and streaming. The Criterion Collection re-released it on disc last year.
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