Chop Shop (2007)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Ramin Bahrani

Writers:

Bahareh Azimi (writer)
Ramin Bahrani (writer)

Release Date:

27 February 2008 (USA)

Plot:

Alejandro, a tough and ambitious Latino street orphan on the verge of adolescence, lives and works in an auto-body repair shop in a sprawling junkyard on the outskirts of Queens, New York. In this chaotic world of adults, young Alejandro struggles to make a better life for himself and his 16-year-old sister, Isamar. |

Awards:

4 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Alejandro Polanco	...	Ale
Isamar Gonzales	...	Isamar
Ahmad Razvi	...	Ahmad
Carlos Zapata	...	Carlos
Rob Sowulski	...	Rob
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Walter Albia	...	Cell Phone Customer 3
Manny Albos	...	Worker of Willet's Point
Sherman Alpert	...	Truck 'John'
Pedro Altamirano	...	Ahmad's Worker 1
Sneha Amin	...	Ahmad's Friend
Carlos Ayala	...	Carlos the Pigeon Worker
Bedford T. Bentley	...	Broken Mirror Customer (as Nick Bentley)
Angelo Carillo	...	Worker of Willet's Point
Raoul Chucaralao	...	Ahmad's Worker 2
Nicholas Corelisco	...	Ahmand's Friend
Carla Cubit	...	Ahmad's Escort
Nichole Dingee	...	Woman with Baby
Cesar Di Parra	...	Car Thief 2
Nicholas Elliott	...	Subway Customer
Anthony Felton	...	Carlos's Uncle
Tyrone Gray	...	Worker of Willet's Point
Roy Franisco Green	...	Rob's Worker 2
Jesus Manuel Gutierrez	...	Car Thief 1
Nick Jasprizza	...	The 'John'
Billy Klatzis	...	Rob's Worker 3
Frank Lukacs	...	Parking Lot Cop
William Anthony Morales	...	Lilah's Friend 2
Tony Motos	...	Worker of Williet's Point
Farooq 'Duke' Muhammad	...	Duke
Michael 'Gringo' Nieto	...	Construction Foreman
Evelisse 'Lilah' Ortiz	...	Lilah
Laura Patalano	...	Laura
Jimmy Peña	...	Cell Phone Customer 1
Derek Quick-Reide	...	Baby in Stroller
Kirstine Quick-Reide	...	Woman with Baby
Roberto Ramirez	...	Cell Phone Customer 2
Edwin Rojas	...	Rob's Worker 1
Shawn Leon Thomas III	...	Ahmad's Friend
Anna Torevski	...	Ahmad's Friend
Damien Velez	...	Lilah's Friend 1
Aben Garces Zavala	...	Ahmad's Friend
Kilian Zavala	...	Ahmand's Friend

Runtime:

USA:84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:14A | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Muskat Filmed Properties LLC

Soundtrack:

Kooba Buena

A pre - teen Latino boy struggles to make a life for him and his sister on the back streets of New York.

Chop Shop. Written and directed by Ramin Bahrani ( Man Push Cart). Bahrani specializes in character driven studies in naturalist style films about the sort of little people that get passed by every day, without anyone ever really noticing they are there, in New York.

These are people who have been pushed to the very fringe of society. They exist in a sort of grey world, many of them migrants whose legal status in America is appears somewhat doubtful. Where do they come from ? How did they get there ? How do they cope ? Where will they end up ? These are not feel good stories as such, but stories about survival at its most basic, day to day level.

Ale is one such street kid. He has no education and hustles anyway he can, to save money, he is also not beyond turning to petty theft. Mostly he is anxious to be reunited with his older sister. We see him in the early scenes ringing a safe house looking for her, but not having any real success. A young friend, Carlos gets him a job in a chop shop, in the shadows of Shea baseball stadium. Eventually his older sister comes to live on site with him, but he is jealous of the motives of her friends and suspicious of how she makes extra money. He dreams of buying a food van and setting up a vending business with his older sister.

Bahrani shoots all his films on location. There is nothing glossy or glossed over about them. This is life as these people have to live it, in the raw. lt is not pretty although it is never ominous, and the slightly despairing air that hangs over much of the film, is the same one that hangs over these peoples' everyday lives.

The script is also very natural and the characters are given plenty of scope and room to work in. Polanco is outstanding in the lead role, and Gonzalez gives solid support as the older sister.