Chop Shop (2007)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Ramin Bahrani

Writers:

Bahareh Azimi (writer)
Ramin Bahrani (writer)

Release Date:

27 February 2008 (USA)

Plot:

Alejandro, a tough and ambitious Latino street orphan on the verge of adolescence, lives and works in an auto-body repair shop in a sprawling junkyard on the outskirts of Queens, New York. In this chaotic world of adults, young Alejandro struggles to make a better life for himself and his 16-year-old sister, Isamar. |

Awards:

4 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Alejandro Polanco	...	Ale
Isamar Gonzales	...	Isamar
Ahmad Razvi	...	Ahmad
Carlos Zapata	...	Carlos
Rob Sowulski	...	Rob
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Walter Albia	...	Cell Phone Customer 3
Manny Albos	...	Worker of Willet's Point
Sherman Alpert	...	Truck 'John'
Pedro Altamirano	...	Ahmad's Worker 1
Sneha Amin	...	Ahmad's Friend
Carlos Ayala	...	Carlos the Pigeon Worker
Bedford T. Bentley	...	Broken Mirror Customer (as Nick Bentley)
Angelo Carillo	...	Worker of Willet's Point
Raoul Chucaralao	...	Ahmad's Worker 2
Nicholas Corelisco	...	Ahmand's Friend
Carla Cubit	...	Ahmad's Escort
Nichole Dingee	...	Woman with Baby
Cesar Di Parra	...	Car Thief 2
Nicholas Elliott	...	Subway Customer
Anthony Felton	...	Carlos's Uncle
Tyrone Gray	...	Worker of Willet's Point
Roy Franisco Green	...	Rob's Worker 2
Jesus Manuel Gutierrez	...	Car Thief 1
Nick Jasprizza	...	The 'John'
Billy Klatzis	...	Rob's Worker 3
Frank Lukacs	...	Parking Lot Cop
William Anthony Morales	...	Lilah's Friend 2
Tony Motos	...	Worker of Williet's Point
Farooq 'Duke' Muhammad	...	Duke
Michael 'Gringo' Nieto	...	Construction Foreman
Evelisse 'Lilah' Ortiz	...	Lilah
Laura Patalano	...	Laura
Jimmy Peña	...	Cell Phone Customer 1
Derek Quick-Reide	...	Baby in Stroller
Kirstine Quick-Reide	...	Woman with Baby
Roberto Ramirez	...	Cell Phone Customer 2
Edwin Rojas	...	Rob's Worker 1
Shawn Leon Thomas III	...	Ahmad's Friend
Anna Torevski	...	Ahmad's Friend
Damien Velez	...	Lilah's Friend 1
Aben Garces Zavala	...	Ahmad's Friend
Kilian Zavala	...	Ahmand's Friend

Runtime:

USA:84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:14A | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Muskat Filmed Properties LLC

Soundtrack:

Kooba Buena

Recommend as a sort of dark fairy tale

Can't say this wasn't made well. At a recent film festival the director admitted some scenes took 30 takes. And there isn't the slightest indication he didn't get exactly what he wanted. But this is an oddly non-Hispanic film in the same way West Side Story was many years ago. Both the leads, a brother-sister team, are excellent and memorable in their parts. The setting, a sort of underground car repair district in Queens, is completely foreign to most people and is worth the price of admission by itself. But there's something unsatisfying about the key issue in the film, namely, what the sister feels she has to do to get by. I can understand the brother's reaction, but it just seems a little too easily come by to me. The movie seems to suggest that people like these don't need our help, that they'll find a way to survive without the usual support systems. I wouldn't encourage anyone to believe that. There would be far more resistance to the choices made here than depicted. Other than that as an entertainment it works well. As an accurate depiction of a culture, not so well, I think.