Why you can trust 12DOVE
New York's Lower East Side has rarely looked better than in this charming rites-of-passage tale, a paean to first love and growing pains that bathes the Big Apple in the honey glow of a long, hot summer. The eponymous Victor (Victor Rasuk) is a 17-year-old Latino whose street cred takes a severe knock when he foolishly beds an ugly chick. To save his self-perpetuated rep as a ladies' man, Victor sets out to woo and win "Juicy" Judy Ramirez (Judy Marte), a mini J-Lo who uses Victor's clumsy advances to deter all her other admirers.
Peter Sollett's debut feature initially recalls Patricia Cardoso's Real Women Have Curves, especially in the generation-gap conflict between its adolescent protagonist and his devout Grandma (Altagracia Guzman). But the movie soon finds its own voice through the efforts of its nonprofessional cast and its witty, insightful depiction of faltering teenage courtship. And there isn't a guy alive who won't wince at the scene where Granny catches Victor's younger brother having a J Arthur in the crapper.
The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine.
The Inside Out 2 panic attack scene is one of the best depictions of anxiety ever – and something Pixar director Kelsey Mann is incredibly proud of: "I couldn't be happier"
When making Kingdom Hearts, the "one thing" RPG icon Tetsuya Nomura "wasn't willing to budge on" was a non-Disney protagonist
The Witcher fans in shambles after a new book reveals just how old Geralt really is