ThiefHott Too much of everything

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Ned Daly I also saw the original stage production in LA in 1978/79. I was likely the only Anglo in the audience, which was itself an experience worth buying a ticket to. I would have gone back several times if I had had the money.Olmos was featured in the local TV commercials for the play and was riveting to watch. That commercial could be re-released as a short. In the theater, you could NOT take your eyes off him.I have seen the film several times and own a DVD copy. While there are some cringe-worthy moments and some obvious "staginess", the film does credit to the original vision and is worth watching. One should never watch a work of art in an attempt to learn about history, or science, or anything else. Art is art.

HomeroB Myabe I was expecting too much. After hearing about the play for so many years, I finally was able to get my hands on watching the film version. First off, its not really a movie per se as much as its a filmed version of the play. To me, this was the truly distracting thing of the movie. Two totally different mediums, totally different ways of telling a story. The dialog at times came off as stilted and trying too hard to sound like *authentic* Hispanic speak. Eh. To each their own. Olmoses performance in it is astounding, coming off as extremely despicable.Some rather nit picky things. It bothered me when Olmos comes out as the (heavily implied) Aztec native. The connection is made that a true Mexican is one who is touch with their native roots, a rather narrow definition in my opinion. Also, there is almost absolutely no feminine perspective in the entire movie. None, other than the stereotypical loca chica drunk. Those were the things that I had the biggest problems with.Henry's own demons, for me at least, is what makes this movie worth watching, and the manipulation of even then modern cinema could have done a lot with that, but squandered it. We see him caught between being one who is in between the hyphen (the idea as a Mexican-American, he is neither Mexican nor American, but in between) asking if he should listen to his conscience or El Pachuco (or even if his conscience is El Pachuco, which is a personal theory of mine, but opens a whole 'nother can of worms that ties into the Aztec thing that is enough for a thesis paper)Fantastic soundtrack, and if you should happen to have the luck of coming across it, than I would definitely buy it, as its excellent.All and all, its an interesting perspective on Mexican-American lives in LA during the 1940's, and a small glimpse of the Zoot Suit Riots. Final grade: C+ for effort.

TonyJohnson Luis Valdez does a great job directing one of my favorites, Zoot Suit. This film is coming to DVD on March 4th, '03 and is a must see. Valdez should be making lots more movies (He also directed La Bamba...) The music is great and the staging is very good. James Edward Olmos does a great job. Don't miss this one.

MovieCriticMarvelfan I saw this on the Independent Film last year, very good film, revolves around Gangs but gangs in the 1940's.Also a film about Latinos (my people) and the problems they face in the inner city.It's much better than those terrible soap opera's in Mexico, this film is a musical but it's also a drama focusing on different Hispanic characters.