Directors Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland gave in to their movie-town myopia once before with The Fluffer, poking fun at the world of gay porn with lukewarm results. Their far superior second collaboration springs from trying to understand their Echo Park neighborhood, where rising property values are driving the local Latino population from an area once considered unfit for white habitation (New Yorkers can see the same effect mirrored in Harlem).

Homosexuals and hipsters traditionally lead the charge when it comes to gentrification, and that's precisely the culture clash Quinceañera depicts: a middle-aged gay couple upsets the fragile balance of one family's Echo Park existence. Empathetic almost to a fault, their approach privileges the dispossessed, positioning three local outcasts for potential sainthood. Magdalena (Emily Rios), 14 and pregnant,was thrown out of the house by her traditional preacher father. Her cousin Carlos (Jesse Garcia) is a pot-smoking, petty-thieving gang banger. And Uncle Tio (Chalo González) is the beloved street vendor who sells champurrado from his shopping cart.

On the surface, each of these characters fits a familiar Latino stereotype—teen harlot, "el bandido" and male buffoon—yet the movie insists on giving each person dimension. Magdalena may be pregnant, but she arrived at her condition not through sexual precociousness, but a more innocent miscalculation. Meanwhile, Carlos' machismo reaches beyond simple thuggishness, but also masks his true down-low identity.

The filmmakers have done a noble thing, making every effort to capture the Latino experience with depth and compassion. The trade-off comes in casting themselves as the movie's remorseless gay villains (not literally, although the physical resemblance is uncanny). Like the lily-white ladies of Laurent Cantet's Heading South, they exoticize their dark-skinned neighbors with predatory sexual advances, a lopsided balance when things turn sour.

The scenario isn't inaccurate so much as it is unnecessarily damning. What penance is this that the filmmakers should portray themselves so unfavorably, as if apologizing for any perceived exploitation on their part? But the film's warm-hearted insights into human nature redeem this hiccup of self-loathing. With its documentary-like eye and talented non-professional ensemble, Quinceañera offers far more than mere ethnography, delivering an uplifting slice-of-life story that emphasizes the universality of both cultures.

[as featured on Premiere.com]