Raising Victor Vargas

Last updated
Raising Victor Vargas
Raising Victor Vargas.jpg
Directed by Peter Sollett
Written by
  • Peter Sollett
  • Eva Vives
Produced by
  • Peter Sollett
  • Robin O'Hara
  • Scott Macaulay
  • Alain de la Mata
Starring
Cinematography Tim Orr
Edited by Myron I. Kerstein
Music by
Distributed by
Release dates
  • May 16, 2002 (2002-05-16)(Cannes Film Festival)
  • March 28, 2003 (2003-03-28)
Running time
88 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$800,000 [1]
Box office$2.9 million [1]

Raising Victor Vargas is a 2002 American comedy-drama film directed by Peter Sollett, written by Sollett and Eva Vives. The film follows Victor, a Lower East Side teenager, as he deals with his eccentric family, including his strict grandmother, his bratty sister, and a younger brother who completely idolizes him. Along the way he tries to win the affections of Judy, who is very careful and calculating when it comes to how she deals with men. In a subplot, Judy's friend Melonie is depicted in her own romantic adventure. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. [2]

Contents

Plot

Victor is a teenager growing up in the Lower East Side of New York City. He is a cocky young man who is very sure of himself in his love life. He lives in a small apartment with his strict grandmother, bratty sister Vicki, and his younger brother Nino, who is just coming into his own sexuality and looks up to his girl-crazy brother.

At the beginning of the film, Victor is found in the bedroom of Fat Donna, a girl that many in the neighborhood consider unattractive. Word quickly spreads throughout the community amongst his friends, although Victor continuously denies it happened. Seeing this as huge threat to his reputation, he sets his sights on the beautiful girl of the neighborhood, Judy.

Judy is a good-looking young woman who is continuously hit on by men in her neighborhood, which makes her very cautious in who she chooses in terms of her love life. When Victor comes on to her, she lies, telling him she already has a boyfriend. When Victor finds out this isn't true, he enlists the help of Judy's little brother Carlos, on the condition that Victor introduce him to Victor's sister Vicki, who Carlos is attracted to. Judy ultimately says yes to Victor's advances to keep her safe from the other boys that harass and follow her constantly.

During this time, we also see Judy's friend Melonie and her romantic dealings with Harold, Victor's friend. Their romance ultimately results in their sleeping together, and Melonie reveals to Harold the real reasons why Judy agreed to go out with Victor. Harold tells Victor, who goes to confront Judy. When Victor invites her over to dinner at his house, she believes he's doing so to impress his family and better his reputation. Things go wrong when Victor's grandmother recognizes the lipstick on the glass from Judy's earlier visit to their apartment, and becomes irate. Judy leaves, the grandmother tells Victor if he goes after the girl that she will change the locks. He goes after her, of course. Ultimately, they decide to stay together, with Victor saying that he invited her to see his family to see who he really is. When Victor returns to his apartment, the grandmother has not kicked him out. He makes peace with her, and the family is able to come together with a greater understanding of each other as individuals, and as a family unit.

Production

The film was adapted from Sollett's 2000 autobiographical short film Five Feet High and Rising. Shooting took place on location in the Lower East Side, where spacing concerns necessitated the use of 16mm film cameras. [3]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 96% rating based on 110 reviews, and an average rating of 7.98/10. The site's consensus reads, "A coming-of-age tale marked by its authenticity." [4] On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 83%, based on 31 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". [5]

Roger Ebert praised the film for its actors and the relationship between the film's main characters, writing that the film "tells the heartwarming story of first love that finds a balance between lust and idealism. Acted by fresh-faced newcomers who never step wrong, it sidesteps the cliches of teenage coming-of-age movies and expands into truth and human comedy. It's the kind of movie you know you can trust, and you give yourself over to affection for these characters who are so lovingly observed." [6]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Object of My Affection</i> 1998 American film

The Object of My Affection is a 1998 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Nicholas Hytner and starring Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd. The film was adapted from the novel of the same name by Stephen McCauley and the screenplay was written by Wendy Wasserstein. The story concerns a pregnant New York social worker who develops romantic feelings for her gay new friend and decides to raise her child with him, and the complications that ensue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victor Rasuk</span> American actor (born 1984)

Victor Rasuk is an American actor.

<i>Code Unknown</i> 2000 French film

Code Unknown is a 2000 film directed by Michael Haneke. Most of the story occurs in Paris, France, where the fates of several characters intersect and connect.

<i>A Star Is Born</i> (1954 film) 1954 film by George Cukor

A Star Is Born is a 1954 American musical drama film directed by George Cukor, written by Moss Hart, and starring Judy Garland and James Mason. Hart's screenplay is an adaptation of the original 1937 film, based on the original screenplay by Robert Carson, Dorothy Parker and Alan Campbell, and from the same story by William A. Wellman and Carson, with uncredited input from six additional writers—David O. Selznick, Ben Hecht, Ring Lardner Jr., John Lee Mahin, Budd Schulberg and Adela Rogers St. Johns.

<i>Then Again, Maybe I Wont</i> 1971 novel by Judy Blume

Then Again, Maybe I Won't is a young adult novel written by Judy Blume. Intended for pre-teens and teenagers, the novel deals with puberty from a 1970s male perspective as well as the other trials of growing up.

<i>Time of the Gypsies</i> Yugoslav film by Emir Kusturica

Time of the Gypsies is a 1988 Yugoslav coming-of-age fantasy crime drama directed by Emir Kusturica. Filmed in Romani and Serbo-Croatian, Time of the Gypsies tells the story of a young Romani man with magical powers who is tricked into engaging in petty crime. It is widely considered to be one of Kusturica's best films. The film was recorded in Sarajevo, Skopje and Milan, by the Forum Sarajevo. The film was selected as the Yugoslav entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 62nd Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.

<i>Six Ways to Sunday</i> 1997 American film

Six Ways to Sunday is a 1997 American crime drama film with elements of comedy directed by Adam Bernstein. It is based on Charles Perry's novel Portrait of a Young Man Drowning.

Judy Marte is an American actress who can be seen in films such as Raising Victor Vargas and On the Outs. She is best known for her roles as rookie officer Tonya Sanchez in the short lived CBS drama NYC 22 and Wanda in Netflix original The Get Down.

<i>Cría Cuervos</i> 1976 Spanish film

Cría Cuervos is a 1976 Spanish drama film directed by Carlos Saura. The film is an allegorical drama about an eight-year-old girl dealing with loss. Highly acclaimed, it received the Grand Prix at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival. It also was selected as the Spanish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 49th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.

<i>Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself</i> 1977 young adult novel by Judy Blume

Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself is a 1977 young adult novel by Judy Blume. It is set in 1947 and follows the imaginative 10-year-old Sally, who likes to make up stories in her head, her family moves from New Jersey to Miami Beach. While not as controversial as some of her other novels, Blume does manage to address the following themes of late 1940s life in America: racism, anti-Semitism and sibling rivalry. This novel is her most autobiographical, with many parallels between Blume's own life and that of Sally. Blume has said, "Sally is the kind of kid I was at ten."

<i>The Music Man</i> (2003 film) 2003 American television film directed by Jeff Bleckner

The Music Man is a 2003 American made-for-television musical film directed by Jeff Bleckner with a teleplay by Sally Robinson. It is based on the 1957 musical of the same name by Meredith Willson, which in turn was based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The film stars Matthew Broderick and Kristin Chenoweth and features David Aaron Baker, Debra Monk, Victor Garber, and Molly Shannon. It was originally broadcast on ABC on February 16, 2003, as the eleventh episode of the forty-seventh season of The Wonderful World of Disney.

<i>The Country Girl</i> (1954 film) 1954 film by George Seaton

The Country Girl is a 1954 American drama film written and directed by George Seaton and starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, and William Holden. Adapted by Seaton from Clifford Odets' 1950 play of the same name, the film is about an alcoholic has-been actor/singer struggling with the one last chance he has been given to resurrect his career. Seaton won the Academy Award for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay. It was entered in the 1955 Cannes Film Festival.

<i>The Match Factory Girl</i> 1990 film

The Match Factory Girl is a 1990 Finnish-Swedish film edited, written, co-produced, and directed by Aki Kaurismäki, the final installment of his Proletariat Trilogy, after his Shadows in Paradise and Ariel. It follows Iris, a young, plain-looking factory worker living a lonely, impoverished and uneventful life in late 1980s Finland. Iris is played by Kati Outinen, who had appeared in a number of other Kaurismäki films.

<i>Dance, Girl, Dance</i> 1940 film by Dorothy Arzner

Dance, Girl, Dance is a 1940 American comedy-drama film directed by Dorothy Arzner and starring Maureen O'Hara, Louis Hayward, Lucille Ball, and Ralph Bellamy. The film follows two dancers who strive to preserve their own integrity while fighting for their place in the spotlight and for the affections of a wealthy young suitor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melonie Diaz</span> American actress

Melonie Diaz is an American film and television actress who has appeared in many independent films, including four shown at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. She received Independent Spirit Awards nominations for performances in films A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006) and Fruitvale Station (2013). From 2018 to 2022, she appeared as the leading role of witch Mel Vera on the remake television series Charmed on The CW.

<i>La vendedora de rosas</i> 1998 Colombian film

La vendedora de rosas is a 1998 Colombian film directed by Víctor Gaviria. The film is loosely based on the 1845 fairy tale "The Little Match Girl" by Hans Christian Andersen; it was entered into the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. The film was selected as the Colombian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 71st Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee. The film is notable for hiring not actors, but talented young children who lived on the streets of Medellin, Colombia, to portray the characters. It follows a young girl named Andrea, who after a fight with her mother, flees to stay with her best friend Monica, an orphaned rose seller. While Andrea works alongside Monica, she realizes street life is not as easy as she believed. Monica must evade capture from the local gang, ruled by Don Hector.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Sollett</span> American film director and screenwriter

Peter Sollett is an American film director and screenwriter known for his feature films Raising Victor Vargas (2002) and Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008).

<i>A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song</i> 2011 film by Damon Santostefano

A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song is a 2011 American teen comedy musical film directed by Damon Santostefano and starring Lucy Hale, Freddie Stroma, Megan Park, Matthew Lintz and Missi Pyle. It is a sequel to Another Cinderella Story (2008) and the third installment in A Cinderella Story series. In the film, a teenager dreams of being a singer, but her cruel stepmother and stepsister do everything they can to stop her from succeeding. When a new boy comes to school, she tries to get his attention using her voice. The film was released on DVD and digital on September 6, 2011, and premiered on ABC Family on January 22, 2012. The film was followed by A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits (2016).

<i>The Worst Ones</i> 2022 French film

The Worst Ones is a 2022 French drama film directed by Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret.

References

  1. 1 2 "Raising Victor Vargas (2003)". The Numbers . Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Festival de Cannes: Raising Victor Vargas". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-10-31.
  3. ↑ Dawson, Tom (October 28, 2014). "BBC - Films - Interview - Peter Sollett". BBC Online . Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Raising Victor Vargas (2003)". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  5. ↑ "Raising Victor Vargas". Metacritic . Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Raising Victor Vargas Movie". Chicago Sun-Times . April 18, 2003. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.