American Me

REVIEW
Olmos makes an impressive directorial debut with this good-looking if heavily dramatic and clichéd prison/gang drama. Olmos stars as Santana Montoya, a Mexican youth who is incarcerated, and from his lengthy stay behind bars becomes the leader of the Mexican mafia of Folsom Prison. With the aid of his two childhood buddies (Forsythe and Serna), Montoya rules with an iron fist. On his release, however, he finds it difficult to go straight, and becomes another victim to injustice as he is unable to escape his murderous past. Though anti-gang in theme, Olmos seems to relish in the violence he is protesting. A brutal, dark work that, at least, has something to say.