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Viewers unfamiliar with the relatively short, complicated life of Latino playwright Miguel Pinero will find this biographical film either inspiring or depressing, but all will agree that it gives Benjamin Bratt the best role of his career. Pinero, an amazingly charismatic man who gave a voice to New York’s oppressed Puerto Rican community, lived his 41 years with a puzzling duality. A gifted, passionate artist who acted and wrote plays and poetry, he also wallowed in street crime and made little attempt to kick his addiction to drugs. His most memorable work, the Tony-nominated play Short Eyes, was conceived while he languished in prison. Bratt makes the notoriously enigmatic Pinero somewhat sympathetic without softening the man’s rough edges. Former "Bond girl" Talisa Soto is excellent as the beautiful young actress who falls in love with Pinero, and Rita Moreno -- always a welcome film presence -- is superb as his indomitable mother. Giancarlo Esposito, Mandy Patinkin, and Robert Klein round out the supporting cast. Cuban writer-director Leon Ichaso brings a keen sense of immediacy to a life story of astonishing intricacy. For all his artistic ability and personal magnetism, Pinero remains a puzzle -- one whose missing pieces may never turn up. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

Miguel Pinero became a leading figure in New York's art scene during the 1970s as a poet, actor, and playwright whose vibrant, often pointed, work spoke directly to the lower classes and to disenfranchised minorities. As a founder of the influential Nuyorican Poets Cafe, his poetry soon became recognized as a forerunner to rap and hip-hop music. TV screenwriter turned director Leon Ichaso spins this impressionistic biographical look at this artist. Raised in an abusive family, Pinero (Benjamin Bratt) turns to streets for solace. Soon he is engaging in petty crime, drug dealing, and addiction. When he finds himself in Sing-Sing, he turns his experiences in prison into the play Short Eyes, which eventually garners him seven Tony awards in 1974. Uncomfortable with his new fame, he clings to his girlfriend, Sugar (Talisa Soto), and his childhood buddy, Miguel Algarin (Giancarlo Esposito), who is a literature professor and who co-founded the Nuyorican Cafe. Though Pinero makes cameos on such shows as Kojak, his art begins to suffer as he starts to succumb to his drug addictions. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. Jonathan Crow

Los Angeles Times

The film's adroit construction deftly integrates the seemingly disparate and contradictory aspects of Pinero's life, which in turn is mirrored in the bravura portrayal of the writer by Benjamin Bratt, in a breakthrough role. Kevin Thomas

Product Details

• UPC: 786936180930
• Source: MIRAMAX
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Theatre Wide-Screen (1.85.1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: English
• Subtitles: Español
• Time: 1:34:00
• Sales Rank: 22,463

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