Director Jason Chaet’s tale of a Puerto Rican actor struggling to take a bite out of the Big Apple is sure to impact those who look to cinema solely as a reflection of personal identification. Has this ever happened to you? After years spent honing his process as an actor, all Seneca (Armando Riesco, co-writer along with Chaet) has to show for himself of late is voiceover work on commercials. That, and the midlife crisis he finds himself at the eye of. He may not externalize his feelings, but Seneca has to be at least a little eaten up inside when his protege Pedro (Moisés Acevedo) has already surpassed his mentor’s success in leaps and bounds. Then again, it’s difficult to envy Pedro’s advancement. The most genuine moment in the film comes when Pedro — no longer cast as a drug dealer or gang banger — expresses genuine delight over having broken out of the mold. Seneca’s marriage to a working woman is slowly falling apart as seen through the eyes of their young daughter who questions why daddy is sleeping on the couch. Add to that the guilt associated with being away from home during a time of tragedy; no matter where he goes, the moment people learn of his heritage, Seneca begins fielding questions about Katrina. (A guilt-assuaging call home is greeted by a cousin who snaps, “I live where you vacation.”) It’s only when the film tries to tackle issues that traces of a TV movie begins to set in. Taking his daughter out to lunch finds Seneca mixing things up with a racist diner. The staging is clumsy, the exchange of emotions forced. The inevitable demon-confronting return home is tolerably cloying. (2019) — Scott Marks
This movie is not currently in theaters.