Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Mark Wow, I almost missed this gem of a movie! Don't you make the mistake of passing on it.Fresh, sweet, funny and very real! Everything about this film is just fantastic. The acting, the writing, the camera work, I loved it all! Definitely a slice of life I never experienced, but at the same time, I knew this family, these people and related to them so well. This is a remarkable thing that rarely happens, but the reason I love good cinema.

michaelmstudent This movie wasn't bad it had it's moments that dragged you in like the unchaining of the phone near the end of the movie, which could symbolize the family being unchained from their grandmother's shekels which had the movie go on to do scenes that didn't truly represented teens. For instance when they had victor constantly licking his lips because the writer of the movie thinks that's how teenage boys act.

AsifZamir I love this movie and thought it was very well done. It doesn't just have to be enjoyed by specific race of people like some other reviewers are suggesting, it can be enjoyed by any intelligent person.Anyone who's grown up in poverty, raised by grandparents or guardians can appreciate this heart wrenching movie.Instability, poverty, trying to get by while still performing your responsibilities (school, chores etc) are themes of Raising Victor Vargas. Of course I loved Judy Marte's performance and will now watch any movie that she's in.A lot of people live this way, and it's increasing all over. Unless we get back to a place where there is stability in families, Raising Victor Vargas will not just be a movie, it will become a documentary.

eplromeo8 I had the opportunity to see Peter Sollett's celebrated short film, FIVE FEET HIGH AND RISING, at the First Run Festival (NYU's student showcase) in April of 2000 and it truly was a remarkable achievement in the short format. Sollett cast appealing and charismatic young non-actors from around the Brooklyn neighborhood where he was shooting. The result was something out of the French New Wave – a raw, unflinching look at youth and growing up while remaining optimistic, romantic and charming. He even ended the film with a freeze frame, akin to THE 400 BLOWS.I bring up the short because it is this short on which RAISING VICTOR VARGAS, which aired on Saturday on Reel 13, was based. Sollett actually uses the same kids that he used in the short, only now they are several years older and suddenly very aware that they are acting. The improvisational moments that Sollett allows for in both films are more contrived in the feature now that the kids are older and more experienced. That lightning-in-a-bottle honesty that he captured in FIVE FEET HIGH AND RISING was missing in RAISING VICTOR VARGAS. The lead kid, Victor Rasuk, was much taller than five feet this time around, but he was still trying to play the puny upstart vying for the attention of a much taller and potentially older woman. Only he's not so puny and they are now the same height. The dynamics of the original were lost.This is not to say that RAISING VICTOR VARGAS is a bad film – not by any stretch. It is very clear that Sollett is a very intelligent and talented filmmaker. The family dynamic he created in the film is very effective and the addition of the grandmother character was a great idea. I particularly like that she was flawed instead of the perfect, learned and loving matriarch that you so often see. There are even some moments that approach the immediacy and sincerity of the short, but not enough to justify returning to the same story. RAISING VICTOR VARGAS got extraordinary reviews when it first came out a few years ago, but I wonder if all those critics had the opportunity to see the short as I had. If they had, I wonder if they wouldn't feel as let down as I did.(For more information on this or any other Reel 13 Indie, check out www.reel13.org).