Review by Jennifer Pflughaupt

  Maybe I am just getting older and not understanding the youth of today. But, I am only 26 years old and graduated high school 8 years ago. I have a 15-year- old sister-in-law and the singer for my husband's band is only 19 years old, both of whom I have friendships with. Completely out of touch with teens is a bit of an overstatement for me. So, why couldn't I get into "Wassup Rockers"?

  Seven Hispanic teen boys, ranging from the ages of 13 - 17, from South Central are living in the dysfunction of the ghetto. They skateboard, they are in a punk rock band, they could care less about school, they have sex with whoever crosses their path, and to conclude, they love making trouble. These topics of discussion in film are somewhat unoriginal. We have seen it all before. But, such debauchery is expected in an independent film. That is the beauty of making a movie with no real limitations or expectations. Considering that I mainly review independent films, I have learned a little bit along the way. It's not necessarily the content of the film that is the focus, but it is how it is portrayed throughout the film. Unfortunately, "Wassup Rockers" does a poor job of displaying the true heartbeat of the story. Like I said about my husband's mashed potato surprise, it was a well- intended endeavor that quickly became a disaster. The feeling that I got from "Wassup Rockers" was that it should be a promotion for supporting border control. All the bones of contention surrounding border control was displayed negatively and stereotyped the Hispanic community. I would not want these teens walking around in my neighborhood and definitely not around my daughter. I love skateboarding and having a free spirit, but the talents and the authentic feelings of these delinquent youths are overshadowed by the pollution of the random bunkum of violence and sex.

You may ask, "Do you have anything nice to say about the film?" I was in awe of an honest and raw conversation between two young teens sitting on a bed talking about the difference between each other's worlds, one coming from South Central and the other from Beverly Hills. I could picture myself 10 or 11 years ago having that very conversation. The dialogue captured how teens genuinely speak to one another. As adults, we quickly forget that teens really do have a language all their own. This was the only time where the film came to life and truly explored the issues that "Wassup Rockers" was desperately trying to illustrate. But, then the girl told the boy to take his pants off and ruined the moment. That is how the entire movie flowed, genius to stupidity and back again. I give it 2 generous stars out of 5.

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Jennifer is a freelance film critic with an overloaded life. She has a rock star husband, a 2 year old daughter, a military career in the U.S. Air Force Reserves, and she is also a full time student at UNT working towards getting her degree in kicking butt and taking names. Some of her favorite films are "Heart of the Game", "The Lords of Dogtown", "American History X", "The Boondock Saints", "Miss Congeniality", "The United States of Leland" , "Return to Me" and "Thank You for Smoking". You can check out her personal information, plus read her writings and reviews on Myspace .