Life
among poorly educated Dominicans in the Washington Heights
section of New York City is depicted in the independent
film
Manito, directed by Eric Eason.
The film begins and ends at dawn on a subway platform.
The humor provided from time
to time in the movie is overwhelmed by the tragic circumstances
of the characters. Manuel "Manito" Moreno (played
by Leo Minaya) is an eighteen-year-old boy who has attained
success by graduating from high school with honors and
securing a scholarship to attend Syracuse University. But
the film focuses more on his hunky older brother, Oscar,
Junior (played by Franky G), who, along with the rest of
his family, did not receive a high school diploma. Instead,
Junior recently was released from prison, where he took
the rap for his drug-dealing father, Oscar (played by Manuel
Cabral). To honor his brother, Junior rents a hall and
arranges for food, music, and refreshments. Although grandpa
Abuelo Moreno (played by Hector Gonzales) chips in, Oscar
foots most of the bill, in part thanks to an advance payment
from Mrs. Wendorff (played by Tiffany Yates), a gringo
woman, to repaint her brownstone and to submit to his muscular
body. Manito's graduation party is well attended, including
school officials, extended family members, school buddies,
and a girlfriend, Marisol (played by Jessica Morales),
whom he casually invites at the last minute. After the
party is over, he takes his girlfriend home on the subway,
runs into two punks on the train, tries to evade a beating,
and in self-defense (thanks to a gun supplied by Marisol)
kills one of the punks. The wheels of justice do not spin
favorably for Manito, however. Police assume that Manito
is just another drug dealer from the same family. His public
defender attorney (played by Barbara Resnick) urges hiring
a "good lawyer." The private attorney wants a
large retainer, and the bail is set too high. Manito is
quickly transferred to Rikers, pending arraignment. Junior
knows that Manito is not tough enough to endure life at
Rikers, perhaps fearing that he will commit suicide before
trial, so he attempts to find bail money. The gringa refuses
to make a final payment because he forged his insurance
documentation, and Manito's father will not open his well-stocked
safe. In the conclusion of the film, Junior flies into
a rage, does something that he regrets, and goes to the
subway to decide what to do next. Manito serves
to explain the economic plight of Dominicans in New York,
the way
in which the criminal justice system discriminates against
them, and how American material aspirations checkmate traditional
Dominican family values. MH
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