Verdict
Summary
Controversial for casting the very white actor Robbie Benson as a Chicano kid, Walk Proud is most certainly a product of its time, but Benson sells it as far as I’m concerned, and the film is fairly genteel in its racial profiling elements and its less-than-impactful approach to telling its rather simplistic story. I appreciate Benson’s earnest performance and the snapshot look at Los Angeles in the late ’70s, but the movie does falter in its almost cute treatment of gang life.
Plot:
A Hispanic teen from the wrong side of the tracks falls for a cultured rich girl.
Review:
Emilio (Robbie Benson) is a Chicano teen that runs with the Aztecas, a burgeoning L.A. street gang. He’s already been inducted and he’s poised to become a leader someday, but he’s got a good heart and his home life is healthy with a caring and loving mother and siblings whom he loves. He’s never met his father, but he yearns “to be a man” and do all the things his heart dreams of, including one day visiting Mexico to get in touch with his heritage. By chance, he meets a fair-haired girl named Sarah (Sarah Holcomb) at school, and despite all the odds, he manages to charm her into accepting a date with him. She’s rich: Her father is a dentist, and her family lives in a wealthy neighborhood, but she doesn’t seem to mind that Emilio is from the other side of city and has a rough edge about him. What she does mind is that he runs with a gang, and he can’t hide it. The school counselors hound him and his buddy Dagger (the late Trinidad Silva) because they can see their fates materializing from a mile away. If they don’t get their priorities straight before their 18th birthdays, they’re going to end up in prison or worse, they’re going to end up dead. As Emilio and Sarah fall in love, Emilio’s place in the Aztecas comes into question as he must choose between his brotherhood with the gang or choose Sarah, but how could a lasting bond ever be forged between these two young lovers?
Controversial for casting the very white actor Robbie Benson as a Chicano kid, Walk Proud is most certainly a product of its time, but Benson sells it as far as I’m concerned, and the film is fairly genteel in its racial profiling elements and its less-than-impactful approach to telling its rather simplistic story. I appreciate Benson’s earnest performance and the snapshot look at Los Angeles in the late ’70s, but the movie does falter in its almost cute treatment of gang life. In that regard, it sort of feels like a made-for-T.V. movie, but this was a big Universal Pictures theatrical release, but it pulls its punches so it merely feels like a sparring round for a much bigger issue that it fails to connect with. For a teen coming of age drama, it certainly has its heart in the right place, though, and director Robert Collins did what he could with the material he was given. Benson sings the end title song “Adios Yesterday,” which might make you roll your eyes considering he sings it with his faux Chicano accent.
Kino Lorber and Scorpion recently released a Blu-ray edition of Walk Proud that comes in a new 2K master, plus new interviews with four of the supporting actors. It’s affordably priced to own.
