Cast: Victor Rasuk, Judy Marte, Melonie Diaz, Altagracia Guzman, Silvestre Rasuk, Krystal Rodriguez, Kevin Rivera, Wilfree Vasquez
Director: Peter Sollett
Producers: Scott Macaulay, Robin O'Hara, Peter Sollett, Alain de la Mata
Screenplay: Peter Sollett
Cinematography: Tim Orr
Music: Brad Jones, Roy Nathanson
U.S. Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn Films
Raising Victor Vargas is the latest in a series of independent films (such as All the Real Girls and Better Luck Tomorrow) to depict life as it really is for teenagers. Hollywood has decreed that a teen romantic comedy must follow a certain formula and contain two dimensional, instantly recognizable protagonists. Raising Victor Vargas breaks those rules and is all the more worthwhile as a result. This is a teen romance where the characters have not been whitewashed and the circumstances sanitized. Raising Victor Vargas has been made with heart and passion – two qualities which are almost never evident in a Hollywood movie where the leads are of high school age.
Raising Victor Vargas takes place in New York's Lower East Side, a rough-and-tumble neighborhood where the usual trappings of an urban story – drugs and gang violence – are absent. Victor (Victor Rasnuk) is a 16-year old Romeo who pretends to be a lot more experienced with girls than he actually is. When gossip starts circulating about him trying to lose his virginity to the aptly-named "Fat Donna," his reputation takes a big hit. To repair it, Victor decides to go after "Juicy Judy" (Judy Marte), an untouchable beauty who routinely fends off raunchy proposals from guys. Meanwhile, Victor's best buddy, Harold (Kevin Rivera), hones in on Judy's plain-Jane friend, Melonie (Melonie Diaz). Initially, Judy has no more interest in Victor than she has in any other boys. But he is persistent, and, eventually, she relents, agreeing to pretend to be "his girl" in order to keep other guys from asking her out. Melonie believes she should give Victor a chance, and Victor slowly learns that it takes more than false bravado and fake charm to woo someone like Judy.
The film also spends time developing Victor's home life. He lives in a cramped, two-bedroom apartment with his strict Catholic grandmother (Altagracia Guzman); his younger brother, Nino (Silvestre Rasuk, Victor's real-life sibling), who idolizes him; and his pudgy kid sister, Vicki (Krystal Rodriguez), who spends most of her life sitting on the couch. Grandma is suspicious of Victor – she believes his life to be a hotbed of sinful activity, and fears that his influence on Nino and Vicki will lead them astray.
Victor is clearly a good kid. He doesn't do drugs, he isn't into crime, and he doesn't run with a gang. Initially, Judy doesn't see the good qualities, but he makes it his goal to win her over, and sets about doing so with the singleminded determination of a teenager. The progress of Judy and Victor's interaction is especially gratifying because it does not follow the usual teenage romantic comedy trajectory. These feel like real characters groping in emotionally unfamiliar territory. In counterpoint to the Victor/Judy relationship, we are also shown pieces of two other romances. There's Harold and Melonie, who play a sweet game of "you show me yours, I'll show you mine" that ends with Melonie removing her glasses and letting down her hair. And Vicki is wooed by Judy's clumsy younger brother, Carlos (Wilfree Vasquez), who has yet to learn the lesson that it's not a good idea to throw up in the living room of someone you're interested in.
Grandma watches over the Vargas children like a hawk. She's purely Old School, fearing the influence of the Devil around every corner. Yet she is not presented as a villain or a comic foil, although either approach which would have been easier than developing her as a loving, caring woman who happens to be out of step with the times. When Victor rebels against her, he is doing what all teens must – but it takes a while before she begins to grasp this and to accept him for what he is. Raising Victor Vargas does not feature an unrealistic, overdramatized reconciliation between Grandma and Victor, but, by the end, they have reached a level of mutual understanding.
The movie was written and directed by Peter Sollett, who developed the story from a short he made featuring the same actors. None of the players are professionals, but they are accomplished, and we never doubt the characters they are bringing to life or the situations they are in. Likewise, Sollett's camera work looks appropriately low-budget, but the effect is to add to the movie's pseudo-realism, not to detract from our enjoyment of the story. He is not a flashy director, but he understands his craft. The result is a satisfying motion picture that wins its audience over because the characters are allowed to be themselves.
© 2003 James Berardinelli