Hangin' with the Homeboys is not only one of my favorite reel New York movies and a great exploration of male friendships, but to date it's one of John Leguizamo's best naturalistic roles. And those are far and few in between.
Leguizamo is usually best when his performances border on the ridiculous. For every Summer of Sam or Romeo and Juliet, where his Tex Avery mania works, there are goo explosions like The Pest and Spawn, or lugubrious messes like Love in the Time of Cholera. Leguizamo has only occasionally translated his onstage genius into a good cinematic groove.
He sometimes falls into a cliché of himself. In the recent Paraiso Travel (which screened at the Tribeca Film Fest but not sure when it's going into general release), he is once again the bitchy queeny gay/tranny (see To Wong Foo and several character skits in his theater work). Paraiso trailer here.
Leguizamo is super talented but needs directors with an inner crackhead to channel his craziness. Hence, Spike Lee, Baz Luhrmann and George Romero get him. Ironically, while he seems a living cartoon, I have never liked any of his comic book, video game or animation roles (I'm on the fence about Ice Age). And I give him credit for doing what few Latino actors do, appearing in Latin American productions (Crónicas, Paraiso Travel).
For a while, he kinda disappeared, but this year he's back with a vengeance. Aside from Paraiso Travel and The Happening, which opens Friday, he's coming out in Alfredo de Villa's Humboldt Park with Freddie Rodriguez, Righteous Kill and The Ministers. I know little about the last two, and have no high hopes for the Shyamalan flick. But let's see how he makes out in the Chicago-set drama.
Tonight, he's going to be giving a talk sponsored by the NYT. Alas, the event is sold out. But there'll be plenty of him to go around for the remainder of 2008 (he'll also be onstage in a play he did not write, American Buffalo. Hmmm.)
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