Jon
Seda and Luis Guzman star in A&E's badly conceived "Thin Air" which
premieres September 12 at 8 p.m. EST. With apologies to Cheech and Chong,
their performances went up in smoke -- thick, polluted smoke.
Seda
portrays a homicidal maniac with a bad Spanish accent. Guzman plays a Chicano
henchman of rival drug lords who's quaintly known as "El Chollo" (it's
actually spelled cholo, but the folks at A&E obviously have a cursory
knowledge of the "Latino underworld" they refer to on their website summary
of the film).
This
is the type of film that twice refers to Latinos as cockroaches, an unfortunate
indicator of how the rest of the film portrays Hispanics. In "Thin Air,"
everyone in the neighborhood carries a gun and drug enforcers occupy almost
every roof in broad daylight. Latino characterizations are non-descript
and generic, except for the drugging, violence and thievery that's thrown
in for dramatic effect.
There's
one particular scene with so much gunfire it literally brings down an entire
building.
"Thin
Air," adapted by Robert B. Parker, is plagued with contradictions and ridiculous
plot twists. The dialogue is so full of contrivances and stilted language
that it's no wonder Seda or Guzman didn't burst out laughing. In one scene,
after kidnapping his ex-girlfriend, a cop's wife, Seda removes the scarves
that bind her and mutters something like: "We will save these as a memory
of our reuniting."
All
of the action surrounds the kidnapping and her rescue by Spenser, the wisecracking,
fearless private eye played by Joe Mantegna. With Guzman's help, they find
the woman, make a deal with rival drug dealers, and kill Seda's caricature-like
character.
Mantegna
plays his character so stiffly you'd think a dolly pushed him around as
he slept through each scene. In fact, all of the supporting cast looked
like someone slipped them some Seconal.
Someone
should have yelled "cut" throughout this hackneyed, clichéd movie
that does more to perpetuate racist stereotypes than most films of its
kind.
"Thin
Air," an original A&E film, is no one-of-a-kind. Think "Carlito's Way"
meets "Forrest Gump." Seda and Guzman, currently two of Hollywood's top
Latino actors, would have probably taken a stand and spoken up about their
roles if it were not for the fact that there still are limited opportunities
for Latino actors.
