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Raising Victor Vargas
EMAILPRINTSamuel Goldwyn Films / Fireworks Pictures

Universal acclaim
Based on 31 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 19 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by:
Peter Sollett (also story)
Eva Vives (story)
Directed by: Peter Sollett
Release Date:
Theatrical: March 28, 2003
DVD: August 26, 2003
Running Time: 88 minutes, Color
Origin: France / USA
Summary
RATING: R for strong language
Starring Victor Rasuk, Judy Marte, Melonie Diaz, Altagracia Guzman, Silvestre Rasuk, Krystal Rodriguez, Kevin Rivera, Wilfree Vasquez, and Donna Maldonado
Victor Vargas (Rasuk), a 16-year-old Dominican boy growing up on New York's Lower East Side, finds his self-image as a burgeoning ladies man deflated when the neighborhood finds out that he's dating an unpopular and overweight girl.
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan
One of the purest instances of indie cinema this year. "Pure" meaning that in every aspect of filmmaking and intent this picture is peerless, so truly real, funny, poignant and sexy that it almost feels like a watershed cinematic moment.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
The writer-director, Peter Sollett, cast the film with kids from his own neighborhood, who give themselves over to the camera with a spirit of improvised play that morphs into vivid, layered acting.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine Peter Rainer
A comedy in the best sense--it draws its life from the pitch-perfect authenticity of its characters.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Manohla Dargis
His film may be something of a beautiful lie, but what's true about Sollett's characters is that their dreams, their grace and their struggles are as real as it gets.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
Delicate and altogether satisfying romantic comedy.
Read Full Review >The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann
This is Sollett's first feature film -- he has previously made only one short -- and it shows, more than exceptional talent for cinema itself, his ability to evoke character, in a kind of sidewise offhand way, and to create a sense of community both within and around the film.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
I loved this movie, and I wish it could be seen by all those kids who turn out every weekend for shoddy studio comedies that show them who they'd like to be. Raising Victor Vargas shows young lovers as they are.
Dallas Observer Jean Oppenheimer
While Sollett provided cast members with a detailed breakdown of the story--a kind of narrative guide--he wanted them to improvise their own dialogue based on how they would react to a similar situation in their own lives....The result is quite extraordinary.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
Succeeds where 100 studio-generated teen romances -- starring the bland, the blunt or the blow-dried -- have failed.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
Warmly recommended to viewers who like their romantic comedies small-scale but life-size.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ernest Hardy
Victor Vargas has the look and feel of a neo-realist masterpiece, yet captures New York with a burnished authenticity not seen since the glory days of 70s American cinema.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
There's nothing in the utterly enchanting Raising Victor Vargas you haven't seen before; you'd just be hard-pressed to name another movie that did it as well.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
There's a good heart beating at the core of Victor Vargas, one that belies its R-rating.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
The ''R'' rating is understandable, but absurd. This is a family film in the most complicated and, ultimately, most cheering sense.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
It's the kind of movie you know you can trust, and you give yourself over to affection for these characters who are so lovingly observed.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder
In the tradition of indie films "Girlfight" and "George Washington," Sollett's emotive, sub-improvising style leads to pitch-perfect performances from a watertight cast in a loose, joyfully fresh film.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
Comes together with a wry sense of humor, a total lack of gratuitous movie nonsense and a graceful dignity that allows the humanity of his characters to shine through in a very special way.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
A modest and tightly focused picture, and its very directness makes it piercingly intimate.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Laura Winters
As fresh -- and as restorative -- as a lemon ice on a hot day.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
What makes Raising Victor Vargas so special, beyond its irresistible charisma, is how Sollett and his cast capture the thrill of first love.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones
Solletts first feature is a small, but indelible picture, one that approaches the most universal of themes - first love, confused hormones, parental clashes - with originality.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Carla Meyer
A gritty but sweet look at young love and family dynamics.
Read Full Review >USA Today Mike Clark
Landed exactly the right actors for a script that already gets points for respecting its teenage characters.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Writer-director Peter Sollett takes the familiar and turns it into hot, heartfelt movie magic.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
A grownup departure from the teen-romance norm -- it speaks nothing about passion and volumes about trust.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
At once sympathetic and unsentimental, this is a model of low-budget storytelling on a human scale.
Read Full Review >New York Post Megan Lehmann
A love letter to a New York neighborhood that is rapidly disappearing -- a tight-knit Dominican community.
Read Full Review >The New Yorker David Denby
Nothing very important happens, but, moment by moment, the movie is alive with the play of gesture and glances, aggression and withdrawal. [31 March 2003, p.106]
New York Daily News Jami Bernard
There's something uniquely gratifying about watching nonprofessionals deliver totally natural performances.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 19 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Chad S. gave it an 8:
Since "Raising Victor Vargas" opens with a makeout session like "Kids", being conscious of the Larry Clarke film is helpful in understanding the importance of authority figures for the precocious walking sperms. If Telly (Leo Fitzpatrick) had a loving grandmother(Altagracia Guzman), maybe he'd be more like Victor (an excellent Victor Rasuk). Vargas will f**k anything that moves, too, but he unlike Telly, he's capable of love. In Larry Clarke's world, Judy (Judy Marte) would be jailbait and a practitioner of abortions; but she's in Peter Sollett's hands, and he doesn't posit that the most beautiful girl on the block, is necessarily the most experienced. We like these kids. We like "Raising Victor Vargas" because it offers us an optimistic glimpse at youth.
S. Squarepants gave it an 8:
A little overrated - just a little! It is, on my list, the third best film of the year, after 'Lost in translation' and 'the station agent'. my main problem was the acting by grandma (altragacia guzman), who didn't quite achieve the same 'i-don't-care-that-they're-non-professionals' type of niceness that the other actors did (especially the one who played judy's friend).
Jonathan H. gave it a 10:
Amazing breath of fresh air for last summer.
Paula W. gave it a 9:
Raising Victor Vargas transcends its low-budget style (the whole thing is filmed in and around different apartment buildings) with perfect emotional pitch. Every feeling, from young love to religious devotion to a grandmother's slightly insane response to the stress of raising three grandchildren, is real. The snappy dialogue and attractive leads are a plus.
Yari B. gave it a 10:
I think this is the best movie this year. This movie summarizes what latino young life in NYC. i'm dominican so it makes the movie even better.
Daysa S. gave it a 10:
This movie is amazing. It not only summarizes everything latino youth goes thru, but it does it in a very refreshing and relax way. I related to this movie like no other. Love Victor and his family! Im dominican too. The movie showed a lot of what goes on in a Dominican/American Family.
Brian G. gave it a 10:
Refreshing, amazingly acted. For all those guys out there who thought or think they are all it but who really are just soft at heart and for the women who have the fear and uncertainty to open their lives to a new path that love leads. It's also about the love of family and how difficult it can be at times. I LOVE THIS MOVIE
