La Mission

Director Peter Bratt's heartfelt labor of love La Mission focuses on Che Rivera (Benjamin Bratt, the filmmaker's brother), a Latino widower with rigid views concerning masculinity. A tattooed bus driver and recovering alcoholic who customizes low-riders on the side, Che lives in San Francisco's Mission District with his son, Jes (Jeremy Ray Valdez). Che takes pride in the high school senior's academic achievements, but doesn't take kindly to homosexuals and has no clue about Jes's secret life until he discovers photographic evidence. Following the inevitable blow-up, Jes stays with relatives until things cool down, while Che tries to resist the bottle. But word travels fast in this close-knit environment, and a private affair soon becomes communal as bullies hassle the Riveras, sparking Che to consider revenge. A subplot finds a mutual attraction building between Che and Lena (Erika Alexander)—a concerned African American neighbor working at a women's shelter, who tries to help father and son mend fences—but the pair's divergent personalities are a more significant obstacle than race or culture. In less adept hands, La Mission might have become a preachy soap opera, but despite a few creaky plot mechanics, director Bratt's attention to detail allows his characters to register more as sympathetic individuals than stereotypes, backed by solid performances and artful camerawork that celebrates the beauty of a rapidly gentrifying region. Recommended. (K. Fennessy)