Born in East L.A. is a 1987 American satirical comedy film written and directed by Cheech Marin in his feature film directorial debut, who also starred in the film. It co-stars Paul Rodriguez, Daniel Stern, Kamala Lopez, Jan-Michael Vincent, Lupe Ontiveros and Jason Scott Lee in his feature film debut. The film is based on his song of the same name, released as a 1985 single by Cheech & Chong. The film focuses on Rudy Robles, a Mexican-American from East Los Angeles who is mistaken for an undocumented migrant and deported.
Born in East L.A. marked Marin's first solo film, without the involvement of his comedy partner, Tommy Chong, at the insistence of executive Frank Price, who was fired between greenlighting and production due to the failure of Howard the Duck. Born in East L.A. was ultimately a financial success, and bolstered Marin's reputation in the Latino community, winning several awards at the Havana Film Festival.
Plot
Guadalupe Rudolfo "Rudy" Robles is told by his mother to pick up his cousin Javier at a factory in Downtown Los Angeles before she and his sister leave for Fresno. Robles arrives shortly before immigration officials raid the factory, and because he is carrying no identification and cannot confirm he is a U.S. citizen, he is deported to Mexico.
In Tijuana, Rudy becomes friends with Jimmy and Dolores. Unable to contact his mother, Rudy makes repeated attempts to cross the border, all ending in failure. He cannot speak more than very simple Spanglish, though he is fluent in German from having served in West Germany in the United States Army. Jimmy offers to get him back home for a price. Having left home without his wallet, Rudy works for Jimmy as doorman at a strip club, earning extra money selling oranges and teaching five would-be immigrants to walk and talk like East Los Angeles natives.
Rudy falls in love with Dolores and finally raises the money needed to be smuggled across the border. He goes on a date with Dolores and the next day, Rudy bids farewell to Jimmy, receives a last kiss goodbye from Dolores, and climbs into the truck that will take him across the border. After seeing a woman pleading to join her husband on the truck despite lacking the money to pay, Rudy gives the woman his place.
Rudy stands for the last time on the hill of the Mexico–United States border while two immigration officers sit in their truck watching in laughter. As Rudy raises his arms, hundreds of people appear and race towards the border, causing the immigration officers to hide in their truck. Rudy, Dolores, and their friends are able to walk into the United States.
Cast
Although Tommy Chong did not have a role in the film, he appears in a comedic scene as a portrait of Jesus Christ above an answering machine.
Production
Following the success of Cheech & Chong's 1985 single "Born in East L.A.", a parody of Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." written by Cheech Marin, Frank Price, at the time a development executive at Universal Pictures, called Marin, whom he had known from having previously worked at Columbia Pictures, where Cheech & Chong had made the films Nice Dreams and Things Are Tough All Over. Price suggested that the song would make a good film, but without Tommy Chong's involvement. With the deterioration of Marin's comedy partnership with Chong, Marin signed a contract with Universal to write, direct and star in Born in East L.A.
Production commenced in Tijuana, Mexico, where the crew faced difficulty filming from the Mexican government. Actor Tony Plana (Feo) described Cheech Marin as a collaborative director, saying, "He was open to ideas, and finding the socially relevant insight into what we were doing, as well as finding the comedy." Marin and Plana worked together on developing the character, with Plana stating, "At the time, we had a couple of religious scandals going on, such as Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart — preachers who sinned publicly. We wanted to satirize them a little bit. We turned Feo into a guy who extorts money in the name of Jesus." Plana also improvised much of his dialogue, including "You don’t have to thank me, you just have to pay me." Still, Born in East L.A. proved to be a financial success.
Caryn James, film critic for The New York Times, wrote:
Accolades
- Havana Film Festival: Winner, Best Production Design & Best Screenplay; 1987. Shout Factory released it on Blu-ray under their Shout Select banner on March 19, 2019. The Blu-ray edition included new interviews with Cheech Marin, Paul Rodriguez and Kamala Lopez, an audio commentary by Marin, the trailer, the theatrical cut in high definition and the extended television version in standard definition and in 4:3 (1.33:1) aspect ratio, although High Def Digest reported that the television cut was presented in widescreen at 1.85:1.