Slideshow
CROSSOVER DREAMS
U.S., 1985
Directed by Leon Ichaso
Starring Rubén Blades, Joel Diamond, Elizabeth Peña, Frank Robles, Shawn Elliott, Virgilio Martí
Screenplay by Leon Ichaso and Manuel Arce
Approx. 86 min. 16mm print courtesy Manuel Arce.
Coinciding with the Latin music explosion in popular culture, Ichaso’s second film, CROSSOVER DREAMS, set largely in East Harlem, follows a salsa singer on his rise from obscurity to the mainstream and back. CROSSOVER DREAMS gave Panamanian super-star Rubén Blades his breakout acting role, in a film Roger Ebert called “fresh and perceptive, [with] an exhilarating high energy level.” Vincent Canby in the Times called it “a sagely funny comedy, both heartfelt and sophisticated.”
Reviews
“…(Rubén) Blades is such an engaging performer, playing a character who is earnest and sincere when he needs to be, but who always maintains a veil over his deepest secrets.”
– Roger Ebert
“Ichaso films New York with a hard-edged realism, presenting the mixed Latin communities cusping on their own social crossover.”
– Time Out
“In Mr. Blades, who makes his film debut as Rudy Veloz, Mr. Ichaso and Mr. Arce have discovered a fine new film personality, a musical performer who's also a screen natural, the kind of actor whose presence and intelligence register without apparent effort.”
– Vincent Canby, The New York Times