La Bamba

  • Rated PG 13
  • 1hr 48m
  •  (1)
  • 65

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Movie Info & Cast

Director:

Luis Valdez

Producer:

Stuart Benjamin, Bill Borden, Taylor Hackford

Writer:

Luis Valdez

Release Date:

Jul 24, 1987

Runtime:

1hr 48m

Synopsis

Biographical story of the rise from nowhere of early rock and roll singer Ritchie Valens who died at age 17 in a plane crash with Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper.

Cast

  • Lou Diamond Phillips
  • Esai Morales
  • Rosanna DeSoto
  • Elizabeth Peña
  • Danielle von Zerneck
  • Joe Pantoliano
  • Rick Dees
  • Marshall Crenshaw
  • Howard Huntsberry
  • Brian Setzer

Did You Know?

Trivia

  • Original title was "Let's Go".
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Goofs

  • When Bob takes Ritchie to the brothel, Ritchie chooses to relish the music rather than the women. Bob is left with the women and as Ritchie approaches the stage, you can see Bob in the background putting his arms around a woman. In the next shot, Bob is just approaching the same woman.
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Quotes

    • Ritchie Valens: This is like my high school prom.
    • Bob Morales: Yeah. Except this prom puts out.
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Movie details provided by

Atom User Reviews

 5.0 out of 5
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Metacritic

65
metacritic
Based on 12 Critics
7.8

USER SCORE (13)

Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Reviews
75

This is a good small movie, sweet and sentimental, about a kid who never really got a chance to show his stuff. The best things in it are the most unexpected things: the portraits of everyday life, of a loving mother, of a brother who loves and resents him, of a kid growing up and tasting fame and leaving everyone standing around at his funeral shocked that his life ended just as it seemed to be beginning.

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Metacritic review by Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
75

As played by the smooth-faced, cheerful Lou Diamond Phillips, there seems to be something almost supernatural about the young man of La Bamba. He's a chosen one, and his rise to the top will be swift and smooth. If only he could shake those nightmares about a crashing plane . . . . [24 July 1987, p.A]

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Metacritic review by Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Tribune
75

La Bamba may in many ways be a catalogue of cliches, but they are cliches that Valens was able to live for his people for the first time, and they are cliches that Luis Valdez has been able to film for his people (for all people) for the first time.

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Metacritic review by Jay Scott
Jay Scott
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
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