Spoken Word (film)

Spoken Word
Spoken Word
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Victor Nuñez
Written by	William T. Conway; Joe Ray Sandoval;
Produced by	Karen Koch; William T. Conway;
Starring	Kuno Becker; Ruben Blades; Miguel Sandoval; Persia White;
Cinematography	Virgil Mirano
Edited by	Victor Nunez; Justin Geoffroy;
Music by	Michael Brook
Production; companies	New Mexico Media Partners; Luminaria Productions;
Distributed by	Variance Films
Release dates	March 1, 2009 (Aguascalientes Festival); July 23, 2010 (United States);
Running time	116 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Spoken Word is a 2009 drama film directed by Victor Nuñez and starring Kuno Becker, Ruben Blades, Miguel Sandoval and Persia White.^[1]

The writers include William T. Conway and Joe Ray Sandoval. The film was produced by Karen Koch and William T. Conway. It opened in New York City at Big Cinemas Manhattan 1 on July 23, 2010, and played in Los Angeles at Laemmle's Sunset 5 on July 30, 2010. ^{[citation needed]}

Plot

Cruz Montoya is a Latino spoken-word artist who works in San Francisco. He returns home to Santa Fe, New Mexico to reconnect with his dying father and his brother. He is finding himself losing his "voice" as he spirals downward back into the dysfunctional life of drugs and violence he had left behind.^[2]

His brother is judgmental. Cruz is approached by his former boss Emilio, who works as a local drug dealer. Cruz falls into the familiar patterns of his past while ignoring the increasingly anxious phone calls of his girlfriend. Cruz is also suffering from bipolar disorder and uses alcohol to self-medicate.^[1]

Cast

Kuno Becker as Cruz Montoya
Ruben Blades as Senior
Miguel Sandoval as Emilio
Persia White as Shae
Rashaan Nall as Cloudy
Chris Ranney as Bartender

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film has a score of 46% based on reviews from 13 critics, with an average rating of 5.4/10.^[3] On Metacritic, Spoken Word have a rank of 56 out of a 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[4]

Nick Schager of Slant Magazine gave the film one star out of 4,^[5] while Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it 3 out of 4 and called Spoken Word "A rich and textured film".^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b Catsoulis, Jeanette (July 22, 2010). "The Difficulties of Escaping the Past". The New York Times. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
^ Scheck, Frank (July 22, 2010). "Spoken Word — Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
^ "Spoken Word (2009)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
^ "Spoken Word (2019)". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
^ Schager, Nick (July 21, 2010). "Review: Spoken Word". Slant Magazine.
^ Ebert, Roger (August 4, 2010). "A poet at a loss for words". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved August 17, 2021.

External links

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[Catsoulis-1] Catsoulis, Jeanette (July 22, 2010). "The Difficulties of Escaping the Past". The New York Times. Retrieved August 17, 2021.

[2] Scheck, Frank (July 22, 2010). "Spoken Word — Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 17, 2021.

[3] "Spoken Word (2009)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 17 August 2021.

[4] "Spoken Word (2019)". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved August 17, 2021.

[5] Schager, Nick (July 21, 2010). "Review: Spoken Word". Slant Magazine.

[6] Ebert, Roger (August 4, 2010). "A poet at a loss for words". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved August 17, 2021.

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