Sueño (DVD Review)

19 Mar, 2006 By: Angelique Flores

Sueno

‘Sueño' in Perfect Pitch

Good English-language Latino films are hard to find, but Sony Pictures Home Entertainment hit home for this Mexican-Americana with Sueño (streeted Jan. 17).

John Leguizamo stars as Antonio, who leaves Mexico for Los Angeles to pursue his dream to be a musician. He's urged by a local disc jockey to enter “the largest Latino band competition this side of Tijuana.”

Meanwhile, Antonio falls for the lovely Nina and develops a crush on his older neighbor, Mirabella, who shares with him a love for music.

Sueño has some funny moments and refreshingly sweet scenes, played against colorful and vibrant art direction. Admittedly, the boy-meets-girl and the struggling musician stories aren't entirely original, and the ending is predictable. But Sueño takes these traditional stories and adds a Latino twist with an amazing soundtrack of hot Latino rockers (Kinky, Jumbo, Ozomatli, Quetzal, Ely Guerra).

The music is so good and the cameos of real artists (Volovan, Cartel de Santa and Jos? Jos?) so abundant that the film might seem more like an extended music video compilation than a feature film. That's exactly why I liked it; it beautifully combines my two favorite genres — Latino DVD and music DVD.