'La Mission': Can An O.G. Learn New Tricks?

By Simone Hilliard

La Mission opens in limited release today (April 9th) to audiences in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The film premiered to rave reviews at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and opened last year's Outfest, Los Angeles' gay and lesbian film festival.

image via 5 Stick Films and TOMKAT Films Production

La Mission is directed by Benjamin's brother Peter Bratt and is sure to ignite a cultural conversation on patriarchal roles in Latin culture.

In a Q&A with film critic Marshall Fine, the director had this to say about Latinos and homosexuality:

In the Latino community, the Catholic church is very strong. There's also the case of a lot of minorities being marginalized by mainstream culture. I've talked to members of Queers of Color, who obviously are alienated from Latino culture - but they don't feel part of the gay community, either. So they're in a kind of no-man's land.

The film takes place in an urban San Francisco Latino community and tracks the relationship between an ex-con bus driver named Che (played by Benjamin Bratt) and his son.

According to The Daily Californian, Bratt's portrayal of Che is far more mesmerizing than his previous work. At the beginning of the film Bratt plays Che like an O.G. (Original Gangster). He struts as he walks and displays a cool nerve when tossing a couple of gangsters from a bus. Che derives strength from growing up in the Mission, a historically poor Latino section of San Francisco, and his culture is clearly embedded in his identity and skin.

Being a reformed ex-con raising a UCLA-bound son on a bus driver's salary might have given the man a thick skin and bravado; yet discovering his son's homosexuality rattles Che's world to the core. He is faced with a choice: maintain old habits and attitudes, or adapt, grow and mature.

Che is forced to stretch beyond his comfort zone; it’s only from this place that he discovers what might be at stake if he doesn’t choose wisely.

La Mission will be in 25 theaters by April 23. To find a screening near you, check your local listings and follow the movie on the La Mission Facebook page.

 Tr3s Comunidad, what do you think about La Mission? Let us know below or @MTV3!

Tags 'La Mission', benjamin bratt, LGBTQ