South Florida Sun Sentinel from Fort Lauderdale, Florida • Page 186

6 SAdwtlrhe; Friday, 'July 24, T987 REVIEW 'La Bamba' depicts Valens' life in human terms -i LA BAMBA it-. By JUAN CARLOS COTO Staff Writer La Bamba is more than a look back at the short career of Ritchie Valens. It is a story of real people and family struggles. Writerdirector Luis Valdez could have catered to music-trivia buffs, but instead, he concentrates on making La Bamba a great film. La Bamba stars newcomer Lou Diamond Phillips as Valens, born Ricardo Valenzuela, a Mexican-American from Pacoima, who went from picking oranges to touring the country with Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper.

He died (with Holly and the Big Bopper) in a plane crash on Feb. 3, 1959. Valens' career had begun only eight months before the accident. But in that time, he had three Top 10 hits with Donna, La Bamba and Come On, Let's Go. At the beginning of the film, the viewer might fear excessive nostalgia and worry that the movie is going to be another rags-to-riches piece "An American success story," the advertisements promise.

Thankfully, that's not the half of La Bamba. We get the obligatory "star buys Mom the dream home" scene, which is done nicely, but the director realizes there is more. Valdez deals effectively with the surface of the narrative, but most importantly, he brings Valens to the screen as a real human being. Phillips delivers a by-the-book performance, but is fresh and appealing. The power in La Bamba comes from the character of Bob, Valens' criminally oriented half-brother.

Played with stunning power by Esal Morales, Bob is a marijuana dealer and wife-beater, who is the antithesis of Phillip's straight-laced portrayal of Va- i Jr. will run a fine-toothed comb over the film. Regardless, historians cannot argue that La Bamba is not a great film. Valdez's simple-yet-elegant visual style is on target and his script uses the elements of Valens' life to the fullest, almost creating an underlying poetic rhythm to the film. Valens' life, curiously, had its The true story of 1950s rocker Ritchie Valens' quick rise to fame.

Credits With Lou Diamond Phillips, Esai Morales, Rosana De Soto, Elizabeth Pena and Joe Pan-toliano. Written and Directed by Luis Valdez. I I Adult situations, language. Poor Fair Good Excellent own mythical conventions built into it the singer was haunted by a plane crash that occurred near his junior high school Pieces of one of the planes fell onto the school's basketball court and killed his best friend. As a result, Valens was deathly afraid of flying.

The irony comes when Valens meets his death in the plane crash. Valdez not only brings Valens to life in mythical and human terms, but he also creates a sensibility for the time. When Valens meets with a local group to play his music for the first time, we feel the vitality that rock 'n' roll evoked in the youth of the 1950s. His guitar crackles from a small amp and his voice rings through a microphone that looks ancient The music, which is performed by Los Lobos, is raw and real, endowed with the same kind of energy it had when it was new. Perhaps most importantly, Valdez's grasp for the drama in Valens' life shows us an age that was not always one of innocence.

The '50s Ritchie Valens lived in is not a never-never land, but a place with real people that have real problems. It is the 50s where dreams die: the real birthplace of rock'n'roll the sound track for La Bamba. Ritchie Valens, and Esai Morales as his half-brother Bob. if Lou Diamond Phillips, left, as lens. Bob is the dark side of the Valenzuela family.

He is Jealous of his half-brother's success and is angry at the world. Morales, best known for his role as Sean Perm's demented nemesis in Bad Boys, gives Bob the range and believability that provides this film with its edge. He is the primary reason the viewer is tak On, Let's Go with energy and sensitivity. Other highlights include Marshall Crenshaw's version of Buddy Holly's Crying, Waiting, Hoping (produced by the Street Band's Gary TallentL Brian Setzer's rendition of Eddie Cochran's Summertime Blues and Howard Hunts-berry's sizzling take on Jackie Wilson's Lonely Teardrops. For those inspired to hear Valens himself, Rhino's 14-track The Best of Ritchie Valens includes all the hits and more.

Mi lliltl en with Valens' story. Unlike 1978's The Buddy Holly Story, which was not supported by -the Holly family, La Bamba was aided by the Valenzuelas, allowing the director to go beyond the legend and get at the drama in Valens' life. The liberties Valdez took with the facts in this movie are unknown, but no doubt historians 1 RECORD REVIEWS Film sound track has energy Rolling Stone VARIOUS ARTISTS: La Bamba: The Original Motion Picture Sound Track (SlashWarner RITCHIE VALENS: The Best of Ritchie Valens (Rhino). The sound track for the movie La Bamba, based on the life of Mexican-American rocker Ritchie Valens is excellent Extending a hand over the generations, Los Lobos perform six Valens tunes on the record includ- ing the title track, Donna and Come Los Lobos perform the title track among other Valens tunes on.