Raising Victor Vargas (2003) | agoodmovietowatch

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Raising Victor Vargas 8.0 2003 Movie

Raising Victor Vargas

Dir. Peter Sollett · France, United Kingdom · English, Spanish

A forgotten masterpiece about growing up Latino in the Lower East Side

Our take by Bilal Zouheir

This small-scale but incredibly fun 88-minute drama from 2003 is about a group of Latino teenagers who grow up in New York’s Lower East Side.

Victor lives with his eccentric grandmother, which sometimes gets in the way of him pursuing Judy, his dream girl.

The actor who plays Victor is called Victor Rasuk, the one who plays Judy is called Judy Marte. This is a film so personal that both main characters needed to be named after the actors who play them.

What happens

Victor, a Lower East Side teenager, as he deals with his eccentric family, including his strict grandmother, his bratty sister, and a younger brother who completely idolizes him. Along the way he tries to win the affections of Judy, who is very careful and calculating when it comes to how she deals with men.

What the critics said

Notable Critics

"A comedy in the best sense -- it draws its life from the pitch-perfect authenticity of its characters."

— Peter Rainer

Awards

Spirit Awards

4 noms

Nominated: Best Debut PerformanceNominated: Best DirectorNominated: Best FeatureNominated: Best First Screenplay

Sundance

1 nom

Nominated: Official Selection

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About the author

Bilal Zouheir

Bilal Zouheir

Bilal Zouheir is the founder of A Good Movie to Watch. He is US-based and a member of the Nevada Film Critics Society. He grew up in Morocco, where he learned English from watching movies. Bilal's work with A Good Movie to Watch is focused on offering an alternative to streaming algorithms, which are often used as commercial tools by streaming services.