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This film objectively captures the human tragedy that unfolds as consequence of misinformed decisions on both ends. García Sotomayor does a great job at humanizing the often times criminalized figure of the day laborer by recurring to intermittent flashbacks that bring back memories of the mother he left behind in his home country. In the same vein, the director portrays a middle-class, suburban family, whose upbringing is deeply rooted in compassionate moral values, even in the private setting as Mary (Helen Proimos) vehemently scolds her brother after the incendiary assertion that "Mexicans are taking our jobs." The film director skillfully brings to the table the fears and tensions that have arisen due to the presence of Hispanic day laborers in many Long Island towns, while managing to maintain his integrity and objectivity. In the absence of a father figure, uncle Ethan (Nick Raio) fills the void with his rhetoric of hate, racism and fear of losing "the little we have left" to the presumed undocumented immigrants. Mary and her daughter's rebuke is not enough to prevent John (Brandon Hannan) from internalizing this rhetoric of fear, disseminated by the uncle he looks up to. This amplification of unfounded hatred is reinforced by his high-school peers who are mere spokespeople for the intolerance of some adults, some public officials, and some media outlets. These teens embody the archetype of the typical perpetrator of a hate crime: a young student with no previous disciplinary record, outstanding academic or athletic prowess, who simply sees himself as the defender of a nation his elders yearn for, a nation that promised a good living with just a high-school education.
The opening scene, a flash-forward in which we see uncle Ethan broken down in tears as he holds a family portrait, reminded me of Jeffrey Conroy's father covering his face with both hands, as his son was escorted to the courtroom in handcuffs. At this very moment I understood that tragedy had not only struck the Lucero family but the Conroys as well. A reporter covering the trial at the Riverhead Court House commented that even if Conroy was found guilty of a lesser charge, his family would still be devastated for life, not only emotionally but also financially. This tragedy could have been prevented if someone (a friend, an uncle, a teacher, a public official) would have told Jeffrey that it is simply wrong to make fun of the suffering of "other" people, no matter where they come from.
