I liked it a lot because it seemed so real. It seemed like a slice of life without too much over-dramatization or flashiness, and after all what is drama for if not to give the illusion of real life?
Since I am from Los Angeles I know even more how accurate the portrayals were. The actor Adrien Brody (Sam) is a dead ringer for Jono Shaffer, one of the key organizers of the Justice For Janitors campaign, although I really don’t know if he ever had any attractive young janitors falling in love with him. The female organizer is played not by an actress but by a real-life Janitors organizer who worked with Jono – she’s essentially playing herself.
I liked the scene where Maya escapes from the rapists while singing a duet of “El Rey,” and the scene where Ella gives Maya vacuuming tips, and all the scenes where the workers stand up to Perez and demonstrate for their rights and “stick it to the man,” and the interaction between Maya and her boyfriend who wants to go to law school, and the scene where Maya pulls Sam into a back room and starts attacking him with kisses – something I always fantasized about happening during my union-organizing days, but never did. Oh, hell, I just liked every scene with Maya. And the scene where Perez coldly fires an older woman for forgetting her glasses made me want to cry.
I hope the actress Pilar Padilla goes on to bigger and better roles, and I hope she doesn’t have to show her body to get those roles – God knows her co-star Elpidia Carrillo has had to be naked in practically every m ajor role she’s had. Actresses should have better choices than that.