Melting Pot, also known as Race, is a 1998 feature film directed by Tom Musca, writer and producer of Stand and Deliver.
Premise
Gustavo Alvarez is a Latino house painter who resides in Los Angeles. His wife urges him to compete for a seat on the city council now that Councilman Jack Durman has retired from politics. Alvarez decides to run but soon realizes that it will not be an easy fight. His opponent, Lucinda Davis, is an experienced black politician who is eager to win. As the campaign intensifies, things get nasty, and a race war nearly erupts.
Cast
Paul Rodriguez - Gustavo Alvarez
CCH Pounder - Lucinda Davis
Cliff Robertson - Jack Durman
Una Damon - Chungmi Kong
Annette Murphy - Reyna Álvarez
Efren Ramirez - Miguel Álvarez
Lillian Hurst - Grandma Álvarez
Peter Krause - Pedro Marine
Danielle Nicolet - Deuandranice
Jude Herrera - Dolores
Winston J. Rocha - Carlos
Brian Poth - Walter Cahill Jr. Leticia Robles - Latina reporter Bruce Sabath - White cop John C. Mooney - Walter Cahill Sr. Paul Bartel - Moderator Luis Guizar - Iannicito
Reviews
It was reviewed with 2,5 stars in Chicago Tribune. Wrote Doug Pratt, "The jacket art tries to sell the film as a gang drama, but it is more of a seriously toned comedy. While exaggerations of the political process prevent it from being totally believable, it does offer insights and humor on a subject that is far less covered than it ought to be in popular entertainment. Best of all, the characters played by Pounder and Rodriguez are neither good nor bad, and the flaws in their characters, acerbated by the stress of the election, brings focus not only to their humanity, but to the realities of American civics".
