Go For It!, Sparkhope Entertainment
Aimee Garcia, Al Bandiero, Jossara Jinaro, Gina Rodriguez, Louie Alegria, Derrick Denicola, Andres Perez-Molina, Gustavo Mellado, Rene Rosado, David Hernandez
Carmen Salgado(Aimee Garcia) is a junior college student and grocery clerk with a bit of a bad attitude. That’s understandable when we visit her at home, as she lives in a small house with a lot of loud people. Carmen is being pushed by her parents to make a success of herself, but she loves to dance. There’s a high school teacher who sees something in her, and pushes her to apply to a special performance arts college in Los Angeles. Carmen’s best fried, Gina (Gina Rodriquez) is a bit of a trampy girl, but is in a relationship with an abusive hood who treats her pretty bad. Meanwhile Carmen meet gringo Jared (Derrick Denicola) who says he loves her, but wants to keep her under his thumb and wants her to move in with him. Carmen has to decide whether to trust herself, and choose to follow her dream, or take the easy path and do what everyone else wants her to do.
This is a familiar story, for sure. There have been so many stories about kids who dream to dance but are afraid to go for it. This one is a bit different because it’s a pretty much all Latino story with Latino actors in nearly every role. This gives us a close look at the life and problems of a Latino household and the trials it brings. Aimee Garcia is excellent as Carmen, and turns in a really good performance. My wife really loved the story as she’s a fan of dance, and films like Flashdance and Fame are her cup of tea, as well as the dancing reality shows on TV. However, I enjoyed the relationship issues and the family problems, but am not a big fan of dance shows. The benefit in this film is that dancing takes a back seat. It’s not about the school or the classes in dance. Carmen dances in the park, practicing mostly, which she drops out of when her new boyfriend takes up all her time. The movie is so much the same as all the other “I wanna be a dancer” films that it’s not very unique except for the culture part, so if you’re a big fan of hip hop dance, you’ll like it. Also if you want to see a good story of a Latino family in Chicago, that’s also a good reason to like it. But otherwise, I was not at all blown away from this film because it was so similar to what I’ve seen before. It does have a lot of heavy drama and sorrow, so it’s not a lighthearted dance flick. It’s a dark film about finding yourself and reaching for a goal amid all the trials and tribulations.
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