Amiable little backstage musical about a handsome salsa singer in East Harlem (Ruben Blades, who also co-wrote the script and the music), who wants to hit it really big: "Who the fuck do you think you are? Julio Iglesias?" The general structure is as weather-beaten as can be (singer gets a taste of success, forgets his friends, etc.), but some of the particulars spruce it up. The music itself, certainly, and also the humble means by which it is practiced: the pinchpenny demo tape; the use of pencils to beat time while rehearsing around the apartment. And there is a rich vein of informed ridicule of the white musical establishment (replacing a salsa trumpet with a saxophone, and so on). The overreaching hero does not escape ridicule, either. Directed by Leon Ichaso. (1985) — Duncan Shepherd
This movie is not currently in theaters.