Race

Rating

Director

Tom Musca

Screenplay

Mark Kemble, Tom Musca

Length

1h 44m

Starring

Paul Rodriguez, CCH Pounder, Cliff Robertson, Una Damon, Annette Murphy, Efren Ramirez, Lillian Hurst, Peter Krause, Danielle Nicolet, Judy Herrera, Winston Rocha, Corwin Moore, Belinda Waymouth, Brian Poth

MPAA Rating

PG-13

Review

PREFACE:
In the early 2000s, I was writing reviews for an outfit called Apollo Guide Reviews. That website has since been closed down.

Attempting to reconstruct those reviews has been an exercise in frustration. Having sent them to Apollo Guide via email on a server I no longer have access to (and which probably doesn’t have records going back that far), my only option was to dig through The Wayback Machine to see if I could find them there. Unfortunately, while I found a number of reviews, a handful of them have disappeared into the ether. At this point, almost two decades later, it is rather unlikely that I will find them again.

Luckily, I was able to locate my original review of this particular film. Please note that I was not doing my own editing at the time, Apollo Guide was. As such, there may be more than your standard number of grammatical and spelling errors in this review. In an attempt to preserve what my style had been like back then, I am not re-editing these reviews, which are presented as-is.

REVIEW:
Is skin color really an issue in political campaigns? When Los Angeles’ 16th district is re-drawn to include a 40 per cent Latino and 40 per cent African American voter base, a run-off election between two candidates, one Latino and one African American, proves that “Race” is truly important in politics. Comedian Paul Rodriguez (“A Million to Juan”) plays Gustavo Alvarez, a Latino house painter who pays neighborhood kids minimum wage to assist him and keep them out of trouble. C.C.H. Pounder (of television’s “ER”) is Lucinda Davis, an African American woman whose political career hasn’t yet achieved much success.

As the film begins, we find out that these two candidates for the city council seat left vacant by incumbent Jack Durman, were essentially tied in the primary election and must fight to the finish to win the position. Lucinda’s staff is filled with African Americans, but is run by an Asian American, Chungmi Kong (Una Damon), who wants Lucinda elected, even if it means dirty politics. Gustavo’s campaign staff is his wife, Reyna (Annette Murphy). She wants her husband to win more than he does.

Both opponents want what’s best for their district, but both eventually stoop to the most dastardly political practices to ensure their own victory. Each candidate has a lock on the votes of people of their own race, leaving whites and other nationalities as fodder for electioneering.

Race is a lively debate on the necessities of political aggrandizement. There are moments when the film feels like a serious contender for awards, but pushes them away when it over-inflates itself. The title alone has a double meaning, it’s not only a political race, but also a campaign about race.

Rodriguez and Pounder dominate the screen, each receiving ample time to be loved and despised by the audience. The film bounces back and forth on which person is good and which one isn’t, but always manages to redeem its two heroes.

There are some things to dislike about the movie. Clichés drift through the film, as it uses too many stereotypes, causing most of the performances to come across as shallow. Only Rodriguez, Pounder, Una Damon and Danielle Nicolet (one of Lucinda’s naïve campaign ingenues) avoid the racial characterizations and thus are able to break their mold. The screenwriter can easily be blamed for this, but he’s not the only one at fault.

The editing is good until a scene featuring a radio debate in which Lucinda and Gustavo get into a shouting match. The images flash confusedly from close ups to long shots, causing the viewer to tune out and wondering what the point was.

Obviously produced on a limited budget, Race proves that you can make a redeeming movie without spending lots of money. It’s a solidly worthwhile movie that hasn’t had its day in the sun and probably won’t. But it’s worth seeking out.

Review Written

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