Customer Reviews

Manito

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This 2002 film is set in the Hispanic community of Washington Heights in New York. It feels so authentic that I almost felt I was eavesdropping on a real-life situation happening in front of my eyes. It's about family and love and tragedy. And it's about bad things happening for no apparent reason.

The family is a troubled one. There's the older brother played by Franky G, who's trying his best to support his wife and young child by renovating apartments. He's a smooth talker and a ladies' man and, even though he hires illegals and alters his insurance certificate, we can still relate to him. Now, he needs money in order to make a High School graduation party for his younger brother, Manito, who has won a full scholarship to a good college.

Manito is played by Leo Minaya, He's rather shy and studious and very different from his older brother, who we learn had once been in jail. Manito is attracted to a classmate of his, Jessica Morales, who's a single mother and struggling to finish high school. He invites her to his graduation party and is happily surprised when she shows up.

The party is a huge success, in spite of the fact that the boys' father, who is a crack dealer, is not invited and there is an unpleasant scene. But there is much joy at the party and it seems very nice when Manito and the young lady seem to be starting a romance. Manito takes her home by subway. And that's when the trouble starts because some young toughs assault them and they have to run for their lives.

What happens next would be giving the plot away. But the story moves fast and the older brother gets involved. It all ends in a tragedy and a hopeless future for both of the young men.

The story is a good one and I was caught up in it entirely. Acting is excellent. All the actors seemed to be actually living this story and I felt I was watching real people instead of actors. I liked the way they went back and forth between English and Spanish - both languages coming easily to the younger generation. Everything about this film was very real.

The conclusion is sad, and yet I liked the fact that the filmmakers just let it end when it did. There would be no easy way out of their predicament. And I was left with the thought that life is often just like that.

I say that this film is worthy because a while ago a film entered into Sundance and won an award, it was a guarantee I would enjoy it. Unfortunately, this isn't always the case now with movies I've bought or rented with the Sundance logo on them. However, Manito was definitely worth the accolades and praise. I loved how this film just grabbed me. From the moment Manny and his date are on the subway and the thugs enter the car they're in, my stomach was in knots. The film was so real I felt I was a standy witnessing the action instead of just watching it on television. Whoever did the casting for this movie did an excellent job of choosing the actors. Franky G brought such an intensity to this role that it was mind blowing. If anyone thinks he's just some hunky guy they will be proven wrong by his acting skills. I was warned that the movie kind of ends abruptly and it did. But I didn't get upset because it left it to my own imagination about what would happen next. As a previous reviewer stated, there was no easy wrap up for their situation anyway.

I'm glad I actually bought this movie for my collection instead of renting it. I will definitely want to watch this over and over.

Shelley Halima
Author of Azucar Moreno and Los Morenos

MANITO is a fine little independent film that does what few of the big movies have tried: the manner of shooting an intimate family film set in the ghetto atmosphere with a hand held camera gives it the immediacy and grit of the story far better than the expensive multicamera shoots of other similar tales with big budgets. Writer/director Eric Eason succeeds in inviting us, the outsiders as audience, to witness the machinations of a family at war with itself as though we were in the hall, at the window, or behind the wall. The result is a powerful, unpretentious little film with clout.

Manito (Leo Minaya) is the younger brother of Junior (Frankie G) who has succeeded in school and in social life in a way that eluded Junior. Junior is an ex-con (we learn later how unjust that title is) who is basically a ne'er-do-well womanizer, but still works hard to make a living for his wife and child. When Manito (or Manny) wins a scholarship on graduation, Junior is bound to celebrate his love for his little brother and his pride in Manny's achievements with a big party. The father of the boys is the poison that drives the potential celebration into a disaster in a manner that summarizes all that is evil in the environment in which the brothers have survived. The story ends in a tenor that leaves as many questions unanswered as it does in finalizing the tale.

Franky G is the only known actor among this talented but inexperienced cast. And despite the many small roles he has had serving as eye candy (and justly deserved!) for big movies, here he proves that he can indeed inhabit a role and give us a character who, despite his antisocial behavioral aspects, is a man we grow to love. The entire cast engages our attention as a verismo experience and witnessing the trials and smiles of this family sheds a warmer light on the Hispanic than most of the big movies afford. We doubtless - and hopefully - will be hearing and seeing more from Eric Eason. Grady Harp, February 06

This is a fine film by just about any standard. It has a story to tell about living in Latino New York, and what it has to say is about family, community, and a kind of desperate heroism. The central character, Junior, (Franky G) is a fiercely determined man with a criminal record trying to hold the generations of his family together, even while compromising his commitment to his wife and maintaining a long-held rage against a father who once betrayed him. The title character, Manito, is his younger brother, who on the day of his graduation from high school represents the aspirations of the entire family to rise above its current social and economic position. A nerve-jangling crisis throws that all into jeopardy.

Shot on a shoestring in all of the five boroughs of New York, as the director Eric Eason reveals in the DVD commentary, the film is set in Washington Heights. Making use of handheld cameras throughout, the film has a strong, documentary feel, and the editing keeps the story careening forward, often truncating scenes as soon as we get the gist of them. Meanwhile, Franky G's physical presence in the film gives it momentum and energy of yet another kind. A gem of independent filmmaking that upholds the Sundance tradition of providing a showcase for new and original talents.

I caught this movie by accident this weekend on cable. Just thought I'd kill some time while having lunch. But an hour and a half later, I hadn't eaten a thing because I got so into this movie. I have not been so involved with a movie, so concerned with the characters, nor left speechless at the end, as I was with this movie. This movie is so real, you know the scenes from this movie are playing out all over the big cities in the US. As I Latin, I particularly felt for this family, angry at how no matter how hard you try, you can't escape your roots. You ask yourself why life can be so unfair, and of course there are no answers. This is one you cannot miss, and I recommend it to everyone. It makes you realize that "one wrong move" is all it takes to change a life.

Action story played out over a background of family tensions. A potentially 'happy ending' is thwarted by the violence of real live in the Barrio.

Every once in a while a film comes along that changes the awy that you view film. Eric Eason's Manito is just such a film. Set in the gritty working class Washington Heights neighborhood of New York Manito tells the story of one family's attempts to rise above the poverty and negative history of the neiborhood that surrounds them.

Junior Moreno (Franky G.) is a product of his past. A former convict who went to jail because he was involved in his father's (Manuel Cabral) drug operation he now runs a painting crew and is trying to rehabilitate himself. Junior is proud of his brother Manny (Leo Minaya) who will be the first member of the family to graduate from high school and head off to collge. The night of Manny's graduation party he connects with Marisol(Jessica Morales) and the budding romance is halted when the two are assaulted on a subway train. This attack leads to the crucial plot line of the story.

Eason uses a unique style to tell his story. Using a gritty hand held camera DP Didier Gertsch goes out of his way to make the film look like a documentary shot on a cheap camera by one of the Moreno family members. The style, while it may take some getting used to is quite effective. Eason succeeds quite well in both telling his story and bringing the Latin Washington Heights neighborhood to vibrant life. Eason paints his picture through details and not broad strokes which is quite refreshing.

Film Movement's standard definition DVD presents a good transfer of the film with its mix of Spanish and englih dialogue and adds a commentary track based on questions received at film festivals bu Eason and producer Jesse Scolaro which also covers some of the basics of no budget film making (the total budget was a remarkable 24,000.00). The short film Morning Breath is also presented.

Well worth the effort to seek this one out.

The handheld DV cameras contributed much to the look/feel/mood of the film. No it wasn't a Hollywood production by far but still told its' story very well. No the acting was by no major Hollywood stars but because the faces were unrecognizable, it made the story much more believable than seeing JLo or Marc Anthony in the lead roles. The editing of the film was another factor that contributed GREATLY to the impact this film had on me. I'm looking at it first, from a film maker's point of view THEN, a movie goer's POV. It's a film you can compare to Martin Scoresse's Mean Streets; gritty with no Hollywood razzle/dazzle, raw in all categories but enjoyable nonetheless. If you're into cinema verite, film noir, neorealism, and nouvelle vogue, this film is for you. If you're into the glossy Hollywood OVERPRODUCTIONS, this film won't grab you because it ain't pretty. Hat's off to everyone involved in this little gem. I thank you for the enjoyment it provided.

PLEASE DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY ON THIS FILM. THIS WAS THE WORST MOVIE EVER. LOW BUDGET AS HELL. THE WHOLE MOVIE WAS MORE THAN LIKELY SHOOT FROM A CELLPHONE. THAT'S HOW BAD THE MOVIE IS. THE FILM HAS SOME GREAT ACTORS BUT MAN THEY F***ED UP BY TAKING THOSE ROLES IN THAT CHEAP MOVIE. TAKE IT FROM ME DO NOT BUY THIS $#!!

A lil under and over acting pero la pelicula me acordo mucho cuando I was growing up in the streets of NYC.