I’m not a fan of graffiti. I suppose there are numerous interpretations of what constitutes art, but IMO somebody’s spray-painted signature does not. I want to distinguish this from murals. For me, it’s all about self-expression. If the message is, “look at me! I was here,” that constitutes little more than the failure to clean up after your pet. Pal, keep a diary, or ghost random guest books at country clubs and museums. Now, once the message becomes more than a urinated signature, there’s a sliding scale depending on how well the message is presented. I guarantee this – our inner cities have no need for more semi-anonymous scrawl.
It took Danny (Gabriel Chavarria) all of 30 seconds to piss me off. That might be a record for a protagonist; I’ll have to think about it. The street artist acknowledged that tagging was akin in many minds to public urination, and then insisted that his friend stop on a bridge so Danny could jump out with his paint, hang off the edge and doodle his name on the public overhang. As if that wasn’t enough, seeing that he “got away with it,” Danny then pees off the bridge to boot. That’s when the cops arrive, of course, and not only does Danny get caught, be he also takes a friend with him – one that was “watching his back.” Let’s review: 1) Danny risked his life to do something stupid. 2) He risked his own friends getting in trouble to do so. 3) His stupid wasn’t just a personal stupid, it was a societal stupid. 4) He compounded the idiocy with a second stupid act. 5) He ran away, failing to abandon the evidence. 6) He got caught. 7) He took a helping friend down with him. We are literally five minutes in and I hate our hero. You got 90 minutes to make up for it, film. It better be frigging spectacular from here in.
Turns out Danny is actually an artist. He comes from a family of artists. 12-step widower mechanic Dad (Demián Bichir) is big into the Lowriders gathering/competition of expertly detailed classic automobiles. Newly released older brother Ghost (Theo Rossi) is a con artist. Actually, that’s being generous; Ghost is the big brother who imparts lessons on smarm and pettiness. Obviously, Danny is enthralled. Who wouldn’t be? Oh yeah, Danny’s art – he likes murals, sort of a riff on traditional Mexican iconography, like a faceless Our Lady of Guadalupe; it’s Banksy-lite from both artistic and social commentary vantage points. Still, I see the effort to create a Danny who doesn’t piss me off; you’re not there yet, movie, even when you add in the girl (Melissa Benoist).
Dad wants to win the Lowriders competition to bring in business; Ghost wants to win the Lowriders competition to humiliate Dad; Danny wants to win the Lowriders competition to bring legitimacy to his art form. Lowriders the film is about the convergence of all three worlds—Dad’s obsession with the Lowrider as a social symbol and economic dinero vaca, Ghost’s spite over Dad’s failure to recognize his ex-con son and Danny caught in-between, recognizing both as flawed men, but having no other root and owing and semblance of stability to both. And boy, if that all did it for me, I’d be one happy gringo.
I didn’t really like any of the characters; Danny dug his hole in the outset, Ghost struck me as 
amazingly petty for a guy who fancies himself a kingpin and Dad didn’t seem to deserve anybody’s respect. And the women in this film simply existed to call attention to the men being jerks and little more.
Of the many venues in which Hispanics are underrepresented in the United States, movies might be the most critical; this is where the bulk of our society meets art. Hence, I love the attempt at bridging the cultural divide in Lowriders. Before this film, I had absolutely no idea what compelled the Mexican-American fascination with a car being able to spring off its front axle like a bodybuilder clapping in-between push-ups. Now I do. En el fin del día, however, I care more about characters than cultural clarification; win me with deeds and dialogue, not Wikipedia, mis amigos.
A street artist wanting to belong
Skirts the line between right and wrong
Question, insiders:
Can there be Lowriders
Without a mention of Cheech & Chong?
Rated PG-13, 99 Minutes
D: Ricardo de Montreuil
W: Cheo Hodari Coker, Elgin James
Genre: What is art? What is pollution? What is family?
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Detailers
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Trump wall supporters
