This film is obviously a bit of a cult classic, infamously resulting in the deaths of three consultants. With real gang members in the prison scenes it has the credentials. Personally, I thought this was a little overrated. It has an interesting arc as observed by many other reviewers, and the way the inter-generational ripple effect is demonstrated is captured well.My main issue with it is everything is telegraphed. The main plot events are visible from a mile away and everything is really overblown, with intrusive music and a typical Hollywood heavy handedness. What could have been a really good film was a little empty, with very little character development. Personally I found 'Blood In, Blood Out' a much better film.

American Me is, to say the least, one hell of a rough and raunchy movie-ride.American Me drags the viewer straight down into a literal cesspool of crime, where 'cut-throat' violence and murder prevails.To give you some idea of what you're in for with this flick - There are a total of 6 - Yeah. That's right - 6 rapes in this flick. Of these 6 rapes (all violent, of course), only one is a heterosexual rape. With American Me's running time of 2 hours, that averages out to be about one rape every 20 minutes. Is that good, or bad? I guess it all depends on your own personal view of homosexual rape. For me, one rape would've be quite enough. I get the message. Thank you, very much.Set in Los Angeles, American Me ambitiously attempts to cover 30 years in the life of a Chicano Gang Leader named Santana. Of those 30 years covered in this flick (from the age of 19 to the age of 49), Santana spent a whopping 18 of them behind bars in Folsom Prison, California. All of Santana's crimes were, in one way, or another, related to heavy-duty drug dealing and/or armed robbery.While serving time in prison Santana, a real shrewd and ruthless operator, quickly became the undisputed ringleader of what was known as the Mexican Mafia. It was, literally, he who ruled over the drug dealing and murder inside Folsom. Any in-mate who ever dared to double-cross Santana, for whatever reason, was unmercifully subjected to the most unbearably violent gang rape imaginable, and, then ultimately murdered. Any murder ever arranged by Santana was always carefully orchestrated so as to appear as if it were purely accidental.Of his time spent outside of prison, Santana just couldn't cut the mustard. He sincerely did try to turn over a new leaf, but, no way. He just couldn't seem to avoid getting caught up in the same old 'cat-and-mouse' game of crime, all over again. It didn't take long for Santana to be pounding the beat behind bars, again, serving, yet, another long term of sentence.Santana is eventually stabbed to death in prison, where his own men betray him and even take part in his murder.As movie-entertainment, American Me has a fierce, raw power, all of its own. With its eyes wide open, American Me doesn't flinch from reality once. It forces and compels the viewer to watch all of the unpleasant, gut-wrenching horrors of prison-life, defying anyone to turn their eyes away from the atrocities on the screen.Released in 1992, American Me is an impressive directorial debut by Edward James Olmos, who also played the part of the hardened criminal, Santana.

Okay, basically a prison movie, and not the good kind. It is men's prison. The exposition worked okay, from the "protagonist's" conception through his youth, and then the endless train of criminality. From there to the even greater evil of organized crime. Maybe it is necessary to organize into ethnic gangs for protection in prison, but it is not necessary to deal drugs, or rape, or murder. Anyway this film descends into the genesis of the Mexican Mafia prison gang and it just gets more and more gruesome. It may or may not be a realistic view of prison life, but I for one do not really need to see the violence, the racism, the butt-f***ing, or any of it. (By the way don't you just love the way somebody can rape another man, but still not consider himself a homosexual?) I would say skip this film. There is certainly some good acting done, but it's all just to sick to overcome.

This almost qualifies as the "Goodfellas" of Mexican Mafia movies, although it lacks the humor and character development that make the violence wrought by Scorsese's goons somewhat palatable.Not for the weak of heart, this is one of the more daring works of early 90's American cinema. Violent, ugly and (allegedly) based on true events, the film yanks you into a world that lifelong residents of Los Angeles (like me) have never seen. The film starts with the L.A. zoot suit riots of the 1940's as a backdrop (Olmos portrayed "El Pachuco" in the stage and screen versions of "Zoot Suit"), and chronicles the rise and fall of Santana (Olmos) who, along with his boyhood "crime partners" (the always good William Forsythe and Pepe Serna), becomes the overlord of the Mexican prison mafia.From the get go, the viewer is yanked down to the violent streets of East Los Angeles, then it's on to Folsom State Prison for some of the most brutal prison sequences this side of "Runaway Train." This film has its critics - some lambaste the acting as second rate, and some view the dialog as corny (the poetic voice over by Olmos worked for me). Personally, I noticed none of this. I regard this as a very important film that deserves to be seen, now more than ever.Not quite Scorsese, but light years better (and more socially relevant) than the "Penitentiary" movies. Those who can stomach the brutality will be richly rewarded with a film experience not easily forgotten.