Born in East L.A.
Born in East L.A.
6.140%62%
Rudy is an American of Mexican descent who is caught up in an immigration raid on a factory. Deported to Mexico as an undocumented immigrant, he has no way of proving that he is in fact an American citizen, and is forced to rely on his cunning to sneak his way back home.
Jacob O’Neal reviewedJune 7, 2025
Born from a parody song that Tommy Chong refused to take part in, movie studios saw potential in seeing Cheech stretch it into a feature. The movie is charming, surprisingly sweet and, at times, very funny. Cheech understood not to play Cheech & Chong “Cheech” but Richard “Cheech” Marin playing a character. That’s why this works. If you were a fan of Cheech & Chong, you miss Tommy a little, but you get over it pretty quick and just enjoy the character and the film.
Structurally, the movie is very disjointed. It moves characters around with no real sense of time or direction. As a director, Cheech was not the best, but he didn’t do terrible with it. Overall the movie was fun and sweet. There was a lot more it could have been, but it will charm you and keep you interested. The Paul Rodriguez scenes alone make the film worth a watch.