American Me

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times liked the reality that came through in the film and that it rang true: "What I felt watching American Me, however, is that it is based on a true situation—on the reality that street gangs and prison, mixed with the drug sales that finance the process, work together to create a professional criminal class."[2]

Janet Maslin writes in The New York Times, "But Mr. Olmos's direction...is dark, slow and solemn, so much so that it diverts energy from the film's fundamental frankness. Violent as it is, American Me is seldom dramatic enough to bring its material to life."[3]

Marjorie Baumgarten, a film critic for The Austin Chronicle, wrote, "American Me is crafted with heart and conviction and intelligence. It demands no less of its audience. It insists that there are no quick fixes, but that solutions are of the utmost urgency."[4]

The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival.[5]

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 78% based on reviews from 9 critics.[6] On Metacritic the film has a score of 66% based on reviews from 11 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[7]

The film opened in wide release in the United States on March 13, 1992 (830 screens). The opening weekend's gross was $3.4 million, and the total receipts for the first three weeks were $9.1 million. The film was in wide release for three weeks (seventeen days). In its widest release the film was featured in 830 theaters across the country. The final box office gross amounted to $13.1 million.[8]

Segments of the Mexican Mafia were enraged by the film, specifically, the lead character's rape as a juvenile and his death at the hands of his own followers at the end of his criminal career. Whether as retaliation over their depiction in the film, or as a routine criminal racket, Mexican Mafia member Joe "Pegleg" Morgan allegedly attempted to extort money from Olmos. Court documents show that Olmos was a victim in one extortion count contained in a 33-count federal indictment. According to reportage by CBS News weekly 60 Minutes, three consultants on this film were later murdered because of the false depiction of a homosexual rape scene which offended the Mexican Mafia gangsters' machismo.[9]

Actor Danny Trejo said in an interview that he was aware of 10 people having been murdered for their involvement with the film.[10] The first killing occurred 12 days after the film's premiere when one of the film's consultants, Charles "Charlie Brown" Manriquez, a member of La Eme, was killed in Ramona Gardens, L.A.'s oldest public housing project.[11]

Another consultant to the film, 49-year-old grandmother Ana Lizarraga, commonly known as "The Gang Lady", was murdered when she was gunned down in her East Los Angeles driveway while unloading groceries. A federal indictment accused La Eme of ordering the 1992 murder of Lizarraga.[12] Lizarraga was a former gang member who was, by the time she was killed, an anti-gang counselor. She played a grandmother in the film. Her murder occurred eight months after American Me was completed.