I saw this on a friend's recommendation. This is based on a true story of a high school teacher, Jaime Escalante of Garfield High School and earned Edward James Olmos an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of the leading character. I loved this movie. It had elements of Good Will Hunting in it and considering this was released almost a decade before makes me appreciate it even more. This clearly did not have the budget of the Matt Damon starrer but nevertheless manages to project all its emotions wonderfully on the big screen in a very natural and subtle way. There are only a few moments in the movie I can remember having exaggerated acting. But other than those, the characters in the movie felt very real and so did their moments with each other. The comedic elements of the movie almost felt like they were improvised (I am not sure if they were) and something that happened on the spur of the moment. And this is definitely a credit to the director, Ramón Menendez and the other brilliant actors in the movie especially Edward and Lou Diamond Phillips playing the irrepressible Angel Guzman.The only time I felt like this movie could have done better like Good Will Hunting would be to explore the struggling life of the high school students. It would have been great if their changed mindset from having a lot of social problems to learning the philosophy of the "ganas" accepting the tutelage of their teacher, Jaime was explored a bit more.
But honestly, other than that, I enjoyed this movie a lot and the running time and comedic relief was just perfect to not feel bored that can happen with some dramas.
Overall Rating: 9/10