Born in East L.A.

 

TITLE-Born in East L.A.

SOURCE-Universal Double Feature DVD

Was sure I had seen this. Remember the video store poster vividly. And not that long ago found the above pictured DVD Double Feature new cheap. 

Wanted something funny to watch and put on Born in East L.A. and maybe 15 minutes into the movie realized I had never seen it and was getting it mixed up with the other film Cheech made ,Shrimp on the Barbie.

Cheech  is sent to go pick up his cousin at factory. This is the same day that INS is raiding this factory. Cheech didn't grab his wallet when he left his home. Has no ID and no one is at his home to bring him his ID. 

Cheech gets deported and is now stuck in Mexico. And he is a Chicano who speaks almost no Spanish.

Based on Cheech's parody song,of the same name,this was Marin attempt at a solo comedic film career. Him and Chong had a falling  out and Cheech kept acting.

So we got Cheech in Mexico and at first he tries sneaking across the border. Like hiding in the fridge of a motorhome driven by an old white couple. Guess what they are drug smugglers so the drug dogs at the border smell the drugs. The Border guard find Cheech and he is back to square one.

Daniel Stern plays a ppool hall owner who is also a coyote. Cheech ends up working at the pool hall,doing various jobs,to earn enough to pay to be snuck across the border.

While working at this pool hall/strip club/bar Cheech meets and falls in love with a waitress. And on his last night in Mexico he finds out she is also in  love with him.

The next morning Cheech gets into the truck that is gonna bring him back into the US. A couple shows up,but only the husband has enough money to make the trip. Cheech gets up and gives his spot to the wife. 

Cut to  the hill  by the border. We see the two US border patrol guys in their truck having lunch. Then up on top the hill is Cheech,the waitress and Daniel Stern. Then they are joined by what appears to be 2000 more people. As they all rush the border Neil Diamond's Coming to America plays.

Cheech and his lady make it across with Border patrol on their ass. They end up in the middle of a Cinco De Mayo parade. Where a nearby Priest marries them right before INS gets to them. THey try to deport Cheech's new wife but can't now cause she is married to a citizen.

While it isn't as wild as the Cheech & Chong films,this isn't bad. I was laughing hard many times. With some of the best parts is when Cheech is trying to teach a group of Asian guys,one of whom is a young film debut Jason Scott Lee,how to "act like a vato". So when they go across the border they don't stand out.

Did some reasearch and seems the TV edit of the film adds in a pile of cut scenes. Need to track down that version.

For the buck I paid I am more than happy with this.

Born in East L.A. gets a B+