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A first wade into feature filmmaking for L.A.-based indie Mexican American music label Rancho Humilde, “Clika” recalls the low-budget films that first cashed in on the newfangled rock ’n’ roll craze of the mid- to late 1950s … or the hip-hop-centric ones that arrived a quarter-century or more later. Like them, its rags-to-riches-to-near-ruin storytelling is simplistic, the celluloid craftsmanship B-grade, the acting nothing to write home about. Still, there’s a sense of a fertile cultural moment being captured for posterity, however routinely.
Starring frontman JayDee of the trap corridos outfit Herencia de Patrones as an aspiring singer-songwriter in north-central California, the modest enterprise was originally scheduled for release months ago, then delayed till the doldrums of January instead. As that might lead you to expect, there’s not much to be wildly enthused about here, past the representational plane. But if director Michael Greene’s sophomore feature shortchanges the musical performances that should be its main selling point for a pedestrian crime-drama arc, this nonetheless emerges a painless diversion, one likely to become a guilty-pleasure favorite for fans of the acts showcased.
In agriculturally-focused Yuba City (which is near state capital Sacramento), red-bearded JayDee’s protagonist Chito is doing what his family has done for generations, since they first emigrated from Mexico: working in the fruit fields. It’s peach harvest season, so he’s toiling in the heat every day alongside mates Flaco (guitarist Uziel Pantoja) and Blunt (comedian Daniel “DoKnow” Lopez), a jester who is serious about producing his friends’ original music. But no one here has any industry connections.
Meanwhile, Chito’s family home is at urgent risk of bank foreclosure, with his proud mother Mari (Nana Ponceleon) currently unemployed and sibling Chuy (Josh Benitez) deep in med-school studies. Forever stressing “There is no shortcut to your dreams, mijo,” his mom has written off her long-absent husband’s brother Alfredo (Cristian “Concrete” Gutierrez) as a bad influence, even if the marijuana he traffics is now legal. But since peach-picking isn’t covering the bills, Chito has little choice but to accept Uncle’s offer to make “runs” with these smokable goods to far-flung dispensaries.
It is work that exists in ethical gray zones, involving some dubious strong-arm personalities and operations. But it is lucrative, such that soon Chito has paid off the bank, equipped Blunt’s home studio and splashed conspicuous cash in other directions. He’s also shot a casual music video that goes viral, making those dreams of music-biz success look like they might come true after all. It won’t take long before these factors stir suspicion from disapproving Mari and our hero’s churchgoing new girlfriend, Candy (Laura Lopez). Nor will the consequences be pleasant once his new cockiness leads to conflict with Uncle Alfredo, as well as perilous paths-crossings with bigger honchos played by the omnipresent Eric Roberts, recently deceased fave screen villain Peter Greene and rapper Master P.
JayDee has an amiable, stonerish presence. But he is no actor, certainly not enough to carry even this unchallenging script. Internal changes we’re meant to register are beyond his expressive range, so they get rotely articulated instead via on-the-nose dialogue and some like-minded supporting turns.
“Clika” is a big step up from Greene’s 2018 narrative feature “Live,” an ersatz found-footage thriller that was exasperating and dull even by that subgenre’s typically low standards. Still, he doesn’t have the finesse to draw much out of non-professional actors or to get more than predictable, sometimes broad notes from his professional ones. The film wants to evoke a strong sense of place and culture, but numerous aerial shots alone can’t dimensionalize a community. They definitely do not make up for a lack of texture and nuance in the team-hatched screenplay, or in an uninspired overall cinematic style. Emotional depth and suspense both seem out of reach in a story that moves along briskly enough, without ever feeling like more than a formulaic outline.
What’s curious is that “Clika” spends so much time on things it doesn’t know how to do well, and so little on the most enjoyable element here: any scene where JayDee is singing. Even a concert sequence toward the end, which you’d expect to comprise the climax, is over very quickly.
Herencia de Patrones fans may find that choice frustrating, while viewers hoping for a proper introduction to an unfamiliar musical scene will likewise go away disappointed. Beyond Michael “Nomad” Ripoll’s original backing score, “Clika” soundtracks no less than 36 cuts by Rancho Humilde artists. That is fodder for further, home-listening study — as utilized, they don’t get much chance to make an impact. Nor does anyone onscreen have anything illuminating to say about whatever fresh developments in Música Mexicana that JayDee & co. represent.
Still, there is something to be said for the fact that this watchable if largely innocuous, ineffectual drama leaves you feeling it’s onto a good thing … just a thing the movie itself doesn’t showcase particularly well.
English (US) ·