Benjamin Bratt is back and he is anything but spoiled. The layover between movies did him some good. He has matured physically and finally looks his age (47 years young). His most notable films are Demolition Man and Miss Congeniality, neither of which are anything like his latest onscreen endeavor La mission. La mission is a film about Che Rivera and his son Jesse (Jeremy Ray Valdez). They live in what is known as the "Mission" district of San Francisco, a primarily Mexican-American neighborhood where one has to be tough as nails to command respect.
When the picture begins Jesse and his father seem to be in perfect harmony. Regrettably Jesse does not realize the impact his sexual orientation will have on his father’s emotions but the revelation is imminent and is long overdue. Che is revered in Mission. He is a man’s man who befriends nearly everyone. His circle of homies is almost a dozen strong and he has unflinching family ties. Che even finds the time to help his neighbors since he has lived in the same building for over twenty years. He refuses to leave on account of heritage, tradition, and because he lived there with his late wife. Raising a son in a rough neighborhood cannot be easy. When he finds pictures of his son kissing another man at a gay nightclub all hell breaks loose in his mind. This is where he is tested as a man, as parent and as a lover.
The lovely Erika Alexander plays the role of the new neighbor Lena (Alexander has excellent credentials as an oft-appearing television guest star. You may recognize her from such shows as "CSI: Miami" and "In Plain Sight"). Lena is an avowed feminist with a strong-willed mind of her own. Even so, she is a woman with feelings and is at all times torn between her revulsion for the man she believes Che to be on the surface and her attraction to who he is underneath his deliberately corrugated exterior. At first Lena nags Che about parking his various restored classic cars on the sidewalk. Being a bike rider and not a car lover she would not understand and having no longstanding ties to the neighborhood she is unaware of the respect he commands. After being the voice of reason in a brawl between Che and Jesse when he admits to being gay, Lena begins a heartwarming relationship with both father and son. She is somewhat of a confidant for Jesse and is a reluctant lover to Che. Their relationship often seems awkward and untenable but the director (Bratt’s brother Peter Bratt) makes us salivate over the prospect of the two coming together for a life of happiness.
At first Che is distraught and angry as hell. This changes as time progresses and he invites his son to return under the condition that his sexual experimentation is either suppressed or kept away from home. Che is drawn into protecting and understanding his son by Lena’s supportive words and by the homosexual hatred directed against not only his son but also himself. This surprises our conflicted middle-aged man. It makes him a better protector of his son’s rights and a champion for how Jesse chooses to live his life. If anything Jesse’s protestations open his father’s eyes to the fact that one rarely if ever chooses to be gay and that it changes nothing between family, only between lovers.
Near the conclusion of the film Jesse is shot by local Mission gang members who hate him simply for being gay. They act stupidly, impulsively and with extreme violence. This nearly costs Jesse his life but it brings his family closer together and everyone learns a life lesson about acceptance and love. The film in many ways is a statement on how the "straight" community rejects homosexuality. It brings to our attention that we may be unaware of the sexual discrimination that comes along with being gay.
It seems as though Benjamin and Peter Bratt chose this script to illuminate the underbelly of sexual hatred toward gays. Homosexuality is not going away and it is expanding on account of people feeling they can live their lives happily and in some cases without the stigma that goes along with their orientation. On the other hand, this does not dismiss the violence against gays nor the linguistic expressions of disgust publicly and privately against them. Even more fascinating is Bratt’s (he is half-Peruvian) choice to portray the father of a homosexual Mexican in a traditional neighborhood where such ideologies are considered abominable. This makes the movie more interesting. The storyline is there, the acting is solid and the setting makes the story. Does this make La mission a good picture? I would say so if the subject is of interest to you. It will certainly be something parents of gay children can identify with and kids with disappointed (but coping) parents can take comfort from. On the other hand, much like Milk or Notes on a Scandal, this is not a film for general audiences. They simply will not enjoy the subject matter if it has no relevance to their lives. While the film is excellent in many ways (you have to love Benjamin Bratt and Erika Alexander), it is not for everyone and that is both its greatest appeal and its major weakness.
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