Quinceañera

A pleasant, small-scaled comedy-drama about life in L.A.'s increasingly gentrified Echo Park neighborhood, Quinceañera features a serenely touching performance by Chalo Gonzalez as Tomas, a sweet, endlessly tolerant octogenarian representative of the traditional Mexican culture being squeezed out of the area by richer, whiter newcomers. Tomas is the emotional family magnet, whose home—in the back of a building undergoing renovation by its new owners (a well-to-do gay couple)—invariably attracts troubled relatives. His latest houseguest is a grandniece named Magdalena (Emily Rios), tossed out by her father after he learns that she's pregnant, just as she's preparing for her quinceañera (a coming-out party for 15-year-old girls). Magdalena joins another outcast, her seemingly hard-bitten cousin Carlos, who was thrown out when his father found him surfing gay websites. The plot thickens when one of the landlords takes up with Carlos—infuriating his partner—and the owners announce that Tomas will have to leave his beloved home as part of their renovation. At times Quinceañera flirts with mawkishness, but its strong sense of place, along with a willingness to buck against stereotypes, ultimately lifts it above similarly sentimental fare. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary (by filmmakers Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, and costars Emily Rios, Chalo Gonzalez, and Jesse Garcia), a 21-minute “making-of” featurette, the bonus scene “Mis Quince Años” (3 min.), a two-minute “On the Red Carpet with Quinceañera” featurette from the L.A. premiere, and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a solid indie pic.] (F. Swietek)