Pinero
Movies about writers are so rare that to find two of them in wide release at the same time must be one of the signs of the Apocalypse. There aren’t many movies about writers because the art of writing is boring. Most of us would rather see a movie based on a great book than see a movie about a great writer.
There have been exceptions, extremely notable ones at that (The Diary of Anne Frank, Angela’s Ashes), but with the arrival of “Iris” and “Pinero,” you won’t have to keep looking. Acquired by Miramax Films and released last December to qualify for Oscar consideration, both films are just now making their way into local theaters.
The common bond shared by both films are richly drawn characters who come alive through actors performing at the top of their craft. Even if the films aren’t as engaging, it’s impossible not to be affected by the performances. The casts elevate the material above human melodrama, giving us a real sense of who these people were.
Benjamin Bratt is extraordinary as writer-poet Miguel “Pinero” in writer-director Leon Ichaso’s tough but compromised portrait of author of “Short Eyes.” Bratt has always been a handy utility player, the kind of person you go to in order to make Sandra Bullock look good. Nothing in his resume even comes close to suggesting that Bratt had this amazing range.
He’s got the tortured artist thing down so well you have no problem buying into his character’s reckless lifestyle. Transplanted from Puerto Rico to New York at age 7, Pinero was always in trouble.
Despite the encouragement of his mother (a lovely and reaffirming Rita Moreno), Pinero ends up in prison. While in Sing Sing, he begins writing about his experiences in prison, which eventually becomes the play “Short Eyes.”
Even though Pinero becomes an icon to the Latin people, he doesn’t give up his reckless ways. Given break after break (including acting stints on Miami Vice and Baretta), Pinero always returns to drugs and drink. Writer-director Ichaso surrounds us with a variety of players in Pinero’s life, all who share the same love and concern for him.
As Pinero’s long time girlfriend Sugar, Talisa Soto shows us a woman who has endured so many years not out of out love but out of affection. Sugar really cares about Miguel, even when she realizes and resigns herself to the fact that she can’t stop him from self-destructing. The moments between Bratt and Soto are real and raw, not just two actors getting through a scene but two people trying to get through life. Sometimes their dialogue lacks the conviction of their passion, which never wanes.
Pinero also shares a volatile relationship with his best friend and mentor Miguel Algarin, played by Giancarlo Esposito. Esposito more than holds his own against Bratt, constantly trying to predict the actions of an unpredictable man. It’s a game that eventually begins to take its toll on Algarin, a university professor who helps Pinero establish a Puerto Rican theater company..
While “Pinero” is certainly entertaining, it’s also a cinematic history lesson. I didn’t know much about Miguel Pinero until I saw this film. I do remember seeing “Short Eyes,” but that was so long ago. Ichaso does an admirable job of condensing Pinero’s life into a two-hour movie, but is forced to use shorthand and cinematic framing devices in order to accommodate everything.
The framing devices, like the interview that opens and closes the film, and the use of black and white and color footage to distinguish between time periods, provide “Pinero” with an appropriate cinema verite look.
Director Ichaso manages to recreate various periods of time with a minimal amount of money, always keeping the frame just as he can. Everything is up close and personal, perhaps out of necessity, but creating the illusion that even though he has become a celebrated writer-actor-poet, Pinero’s world is still in prison. The bars may be in his mind, but they are a constant reminder of the brutality he experienced.
Bratt is at his best when Pinero tries to deal with his newfound fame. We may applaud Pinero’s work, but it’s hard to embrace him. Bratt isn’t asking us to embrace Pinero, but to understand why he made the decisions that he did.
Ichaso’s screenplay doesn’t take sides. He just tells it just the way it is. Not only do you learn so much about the man, you learn how his words changed and challenged the way people looked at Latin artists. Pinero came along in a period of time that was ripe for his point of view, and Ichaso and his cast do a winning job of recreating his wisdom and words.
WITH PEN IN HAND The writing is on the wall in high-profile biography
PINERO
Benjamin Bratt, Giancarlo Esposito, Talisa Soto, Nelson Vasquez, Rita Moreno, Mandy Patinkin. Directed by Leon Ichaso. Rated R. 103 Minutes.
LARSEN RATING: $6
