Mateo (DVD REVIEW)
Mateo
DVD
Review
by Kam Williams
DVD
Chronicles Career of Country's First, White Mariachi Singer
Matthew
“Mateo” Stoneman is a proverbial 98-pound weakling with
eyeglasses and a concave chest. But don't let that underwhelming
physique fool you. For the nerdy redhead is also a felon who has done
a long stretch behind bars in California for robbery and grand
larceny.
But
while most of his fellow inmates were pumping iron in an effort to
become buff, Matthew served his sentence learning to speak Spanish
and to play the guitar in order to be able to sing Mariachi, a genre
of music he was introduced to by Latino cons he met in the slammer.
And after being paroled, he struck out on his own around Los Angeles
where he eked out a living between panhandling on street corners and
competing with seasoned Chicano performers for gigs at parties and
restaurants.
But
because Matthew was Caucasian, he managed to gain a little notoriety
as the world's first white Mariachi singer, which led the L.A. Times
to publish a lengthy profile on him. He would eventually venture to
Cuba to record his own album over a number of years, enlisting the
assistance of some surviving members of the legendary Buena Vista
Social Club as sidemen. On the island, he also met the girlfriend who
would bear a child, albeit of questionable paternity.
All
of the above is a far cry from what one might expect in a biopic
about a gringo born and raised in a tiny town in rural New Hampshire.
For that reason, Matthew Stoneman makes for a fascinating subject in
Mateo a delightful documentary directed by Aaron I. Naar (I'll Sleep
When I'm Dead).
An
uplifting testament to the notion that it's still possible for a
sinner to find his true calling and turn his life around after first
paying his debt to society.
Very Good (3
stars)
Unrated
In English and Spanish with
subtitles
Running time: 88 minutes
Distributor: XLrator Media
DVD Extras: None.
To see the trailer for Mateo,
visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU2LapxHpPA
No comments:
Post a Comment