“Road to Juarez” in theaters April 24, 2015
By Bel Hernandez
David Ponce De Leon’s directorial debut film Road to Juarez is a quirky road trip with a dash of Tarantino and a pinch of No Country for Old Men, with a Latino twist. It’s a slow burn, hell of a ride kind of film. It’s got the good (and so good-looking) Walter Perez, the bad (William Forsythe) and the darn ugly spirited villain played by Adal Ramones and his not so bad brother. Yeah I liked it.
Director David Ponce De Leon and Actor William Forsythe
A UCLA film grad, De Leon says Road To Juarez is inspired by true events dating back to when he lived with his grandmother at age 14 in Morelos, Mexico. His grandmother carried a .22 pistol around for protected and she was the inspiration for Road to Juarez, which is why the film is dedicated to her.
He credits his mentor the late writer/director Rueben Gonzalez (Once Upon a Wedding, Mambo Café, The Brothers Garcia) who introduced de Leon to producer Scott Rosenfelt, (Home Alone, Mystic Pizza, Smoke Signals) which lead to Rosenfelt championing his film.
Rosenfelt and Ponce de Leon worked on attaching top talent to the project. With Rosenfelt on board they reached out to Cesar Ramirez. Ramirez, a successful business impresario from Austin, Texas, who had always wanted to work in film. After reading the script and researching the particulars, Ramirez raised seed money and Road to Juarez went into production.
Ponce De Leon’s vision for A Road to Juarez was always big, “My idea for Road to Juarez was to fuse the genres of films like Motorcycle Diaries and Blow, so that you had these Latin sensibilities, but wrapped around a structure reminiscent of the great crime dramas we grew up with like Goodfellas and Casino. Though authenticity was of paramount concern, but I also wanted to present it in such a way that it would be universally appealing”. Road to Juarez surely lives up to what Ponce De Leon envisioned on many different fronts.
Road to Juarez is the story of Jacob Saenz (Walter Perez), Mexican-American trying to save his father from a diagnosis of terminal cancer. In order to do so, Jacob and his best friend Rob, (Charley Koontz) meet up and are taken under Doug’s wing, a cunning ex-con with ties to the Mexican underworld played by William Forsythe.
Doug introduces the two young men to “the dark side”; the trio embarks on an expedition “to hell and beyond”. But amid all the drama there is time for romance as Jacob falls for a Mexican bombshell and wife of an underworld boss warlord who has been kidnapped. Ivan (Ramones) is the warlord’s right hand henchman, who in a further plot twist, complicates matters by kidnapping Rob and his estranged boss’s 17 year old son, Fito (Joshua Ponce de Leon). We did say it was one hell of a ride?
In the end we see Jacob’s transformation…he would like us to think it was spiritual, that he finds love and becomes the man he was destined to be, but does he?
The casting works beautifully beginning with the bartender (Ruben Garfias) gest the whole road trip adventure started. Meanwhile Perez and Koontz’s characters who have been friends since childhood make an unlikely team of international animal pelt thieves, however convincing performances makes the audience doubt that these too could ever be considered the bad guys. Forsythe is always a joy to watch, and as Doug you he draws you with the good guy act and then the real beast appears. Throughout the film you catch the performance by some of Hollywood’s best character actor talent Yareli Arizmendi, Pepe Serna, Romina Piniche (as the warlords beautiful wife), Jacqueline Pinol and Sal Lopez (as a saintly modest farmer), Castulo Guerra (as the kidnapped warlord)
The producer list, which includes actors Perez and Pano also include 16 others who include, Scott Rosenfelt, Amir Delara (Filly Brown), Cesar Ramirez and Sergio Solares Alvarez doing second unit in Mexico. Jonathan West (CSI, Charmed, Star Trek) the director of photography, A.S.C., gives the film an semi-epic look. Editing credits go to brothers Paulo and Luis Carballar who were also on the editing team for Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu Oscar nominated Amores Perros.
Yes, the movie was cut by
The mix of producers and well known actors from the U.S. (Forsythe, Perez) and Mexico (Ramones), give Road to Juarez a marketing boost in attracting their target audience, both the U.S. English speaking audiences and Spanish speaking audiences here and in Mexico.
Any indie filmmaker nowadays makes social media the centerpiece when it comes to promoting their films, and Road to Juarez is no different, with their actors actively involved by taping digital invitations to opening nights and posting behind the scenes video.
A unique part of their social media campaign is the “Golden Ticket” campaign. Audiences are encouraged to buy their tickets ahead of time on the film’s website and win free gifts, a chance to go the premieres in Los Angeles or Austin, TX and maybe even a walk on role the next film by the filmmakers.
It took five years from script toscreen, Road to Juarez becomes a reality on April 24th when it has its theatrical release in four cities with high Latino populations, Los Angeles and San Diego in California and in Texas in Houston and Austin (theater list below) .
Reflecting on his “road to premiere,” De Leon reflects, “Since the birth of this project, there has been no doubt in my mind that this was a blessed project. Maybe my grandma was watching over it after all?”
Domestic Distributor – Mousetrap Films and FIlm Festival Flix
International Sales Agent – MonteCristo International
Production Companies: • 8th Street Films • Marc Production Enterprises • Millennium Crop Entertainment • Fungi Films
Road to Juarez in theaters April 24, 2015
Los Angeles, CA
Regal Cinemas Southgate 20 AMC Universal CityWalk 20 The Frida Cinema Santa Ana San Diego, CA AMC Mission Valley 20 with IMAX AMC Palm Promenade 24 with IMAX
Houston, TX AMC Studio 30 Houston with IMAX AMC Gulf Pointe 30 with IMAX Austin, TX Regal Metropolitan 14 AMC Galaxy Highland 10
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