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Dito is called home by his mother, played by Diane Wiest and a long time acquaintance, named Nerf because his father has become very ill. Dito has been gone for about 15 years. He left years ago, when he was a teen because he knew that his life would be like if he stayed. Deep inside he longed for a life more academic where his learning and curiosity wouldn’t be stifled. Anytime he would try to show any of this side, his friends would chide him and he could tell what his life would become if he stayed in Astoria, Queens. All the characters are working class. They spend most of their days on the streets hanging out because they have known each other all their lives, going to school, dating, working, etc. All during the movie Dito wants to leave Astoria to a better life in California just like many people really just want to get out of their hometowns. The incident that finally makes him actually leave is that a member from a Puerto Rican gang from a neighboring area is confronted by Dito when he is caught tagging the neighbors wall with graffiti. The Puerto Rican doesn’t leave it at that. He starts hunting Ditto down and beats him so badly he is almost killed. His best friend, Antonio, played by Channing Tatum, as the younger version who seems to not ever own a shirt, decides to get his revenge on the Puerto Rican, to catastrophic ends. Later in the movie Dito reconnects with the older Antonio, played by Eric Roberts. Antonio was severely physically abused by his father and because of this he is also very violent and hot tempered. He must also watch out for his younger brother Guiseppe, played by Adam Scarimbolo, who many may recognize as the actor who plays Jacks’s long-lost son on Will and Grace. Dito’s father, played by Chazz Palminteri, connects with Antonio as if he were his son, partly because he knows the abuse is happening, but also because he really likes him in a way that would suggest that he was the son he wished he had had. They do have more in common. At the same time, Dito feels like he is being pushed aside.. Along the way, Dito makes friends with an Irish boy, Mike O’Shea from school, who is interested in music and seeing different places. He even manages to get Dito a job walking dogs which will be instrumental in his leaving home. Somehow, Dito’s having a whole new friend who is completely out of the neighborhood hub causes quite a stir. His old friends and acquaintances, and even his parents, begin feeling jealous because they are feeling pushed away. The movie is well very well written. It moves thru time from the present back the past very fluidly. All the characters are very well developed. I found myself wondering what had happened to them way after the movie ended—like what are they doing now. It would make a great addition to anyone’s DVD library. -Constantine-
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