The thing that attracts me to movies these days are good characters. Some movies I enjoy because of the plot, and others simply for the action, but what really goes into a good movie are good characters. The Waterboy had good characters and that is why I love it so much. The thing that sets Hanging with the Homeboys apart from other movies are the characters.
This movie is about four guys who go out on a Friday night to simply hang together. This one Friday night is the night in which their lives turn around because they are confronted with the realities of their situation. There are two Negroes and two Puerto Ricans and each of these characters are the opposites of the other.
Willie and Tom are both Negroes. Tom is a telemarketer who has dreams of being an actor while Willie is unemployed and has a huge persecution complex. Everything that goes against him is because he is a Negro and he cannot see past white man's prejudice against him. Tom though is a complete antithesis of this. He is actually successful. Even though he is not an actor, he is trying very hard to become one. He has a job and he is earning money in this job, where as Willie has none and is constantly bumming money off of people. Throughout the movie, Willie is constantly confronted by Negro bums and his mates point out to him that this is what he is going to become one day if he doesn't stand up for himself. He also attacks a Negro woman, Lala, for betraying his kind and hanging out in the Whiteman's world. To this she brutally attacks him, revealing to him that he lives in a persecuted world yet has no desire to drag himself out of it. It is only when Tom refuses to give him money for food, that he looks at the bums and sees himself there. We do not know what happens after with Willie. He has the opportunity of going to Brooklyn to work, but whether he does or not we do not know.
Vince and Johnny are the Puerto Ricans. Johnny accepts who he is and is more concerned about the other people in the world who are suffering. Vince, whose real name is Fernando, does not like Johnny because Johnny reveals to him a side that he does not want to see. He would rather Johnny disappear so that he can continue to live in his dream world, believing that he is an Italian. When confronted by an Italian transit cop, he is derided for the fact that he has no pride in his heritage.
Johnny has the opportunity to go to collage, but he is deliberating on it. This weekend is the last weekend he has the scholarship open to him. He knows he can get it, but he is not sure that collage is right for him. His work mates encourage him to go, but his friends say that it is a waste of time. It is not until a girl sits next to him and tells him that he is a fool not to go that he decides to. This woman is interesting as Vince is trying to get a girl all night, and this woman walks away from him and sits next to Johnny. She then takes him to a pool hall, and then says that she wants to be his friend. Vince cannot accept this. He has to weasel his way into a woman's life while this one woman walks straight up to Johnny and offers to be his friend. Vince does get a girl in the end, and it is the girl that Johnny believed to be innocent and virginal only to see her acting in a XXX movie.
This is a good movie with good characters who each have a meaning to them. Even the most shallow character, Vince, has depth to him because of his roots. This movie is a very good movie, and makes one think back to the friends I used to hang with every Friday night.
This movie is about four guys who go out on a Friday night to simply hang together. This one Friday night is the night in which their lives turn around because they are confronted with the realities of their situation. There are two Negroes and two Puerto Ricans and each of these characters are the opposites of the other.
Willie and Tom are both Negroes. Tom is a telemarketer who has dreams of being an actor while Willie is unemployed and has a huge persecution complex. Everything that goes against him is because he is a Negro and he cannot see past white man's prejudice against him. Tom though is a complete antithesis of this. He is actually successful. Even though he is not an actor, he is trying very hard to become one. He has a job and he is earning money in this job, where as Willie has none and is constantly bumming money off of people. Throughout the movie, Willie is constantly confronted by Negro bums and his mates point out to him that this is what he is going to become one day if he doesn't stand up for himself. He also attacks a Negro woman, Lala, for betraying his kind and hanging out in the Whiteman's world. To this she brutally attacks him, revealing to him that he lives in a persecuted world yet has no desire to drag himself out of it. It is only when Tom refuses to give him money for food, that he looks at the bums and sees himself there. We do not know what happens after with Willie. He has the opportunity of going to Brooklyn to work, but whether he does or not we do not know.
Vince and Johnny are the Puerto Ricans. Johnny accepts who he is and is more concerned about the other people in the world who are suffering. Vince, whose real name is Fernando, does not like Johnny because Johnny reveals to him a side that he does not want to see. He would rather Johnny disappear so that he can continue to live in his dream world, believing that he is an Italian. When confronted by an Italian transit cop, he is derided for the fact that he has no pride in his heritage.
Johnny has the opportunity to go to collage, but he is deliberating on it. This weekend is the last weekend he has the scholarship open to him. He knows he can get it, but he is not sure that collage is right for him. His work mates encourage him to go, but his friends say that it is a waste of time. It is not until a girl sits next to him and tells him that he is a fool not to go that he decides to. This woman is interesting as Vince is trying to get a girl all night, and this woman walks away from him and sits next to Johnny. She then takes him to a pool hall, and then says that she wants to be his friend. Vince cannot accept this. He has to weasel his way into a woman's life while this one woman walks straight up to Johnny and offers to be his friend. Vince does get a girl in the end, and it is the girl that Johnny believed to be innocent and virginal only to see her acting in a XXX movie.
This is a good movie with good characters who each have a meaning to them. Even the most shallow character, Vince, has depth to him because of his roots. This movie is a very good movie, and makes one think back to the friends I used to hang with every Friday night.