Moments of "La Bamba" seem so exact and are mounted so well, they produce goosebumps of nostalgic remembrance and heightened expectations. Those moments, like goosebumps, don't last long, and "La Bamba" is eventually weighed down by hoary old B-movie cliches(maybe Ritchie did dream of dying in a plane crash, but does he have to tell everybody about it--including his manager ON a plane flight?). This is all just to get our tear ducts going for the final unfair twist(which is slackly handled). General over-acting and over-eager direction are other hurdles in a film that is eventually too slick for anybody's good. ** from ****
Review of La Bamba
La Bamba
(1987)
Broken talismans, fateful coin tosses and the mustiest of biopic cliches
20 January 2004