October 14, 1994 | Chances are very good you will like I Like It Like That, a fresh and vivacious comedy-drama that signals the arrival of an extremely promising filmmaker.
Many critics and publicists have taken great pains to emphasize writer-director Darnell Martin is, to quote the production notes, “the first African-American woman to make a major studio movie.” (To distinguish her, I suppose, from all those African-American women who have made minor studio movies.) That’s all well and good, of course. What matters more, however, is that Martin’s first movie is so exuberantly entertaining.
It also matters that newcomer Lauren Velez is so wonderful in the lead role of Lisette Linares, a spirited black Puerto Rican woman who must take charge of her life during her husband’s absence. Chino (Jon Seda) hasn’t abandoned her and their three small children. Rather, he’s behind bars, unable to raise bail after being arrested for looting during a neighborhood blackout. While he’s away, he doesn’t want Lisette to work. But Lisette is too proud to rely on welfare.
So she ventures outside her Bronx neighborhood, seeking employment as a model. It matters little to her that her only experience in this regard was posing for a photo displayed in her hairdresser’s window. It matters even less that she has absolutely no experience with marketing or music-industry promotions. After she lucks into an extremely temporary job with a record-company executive (Griffin Dunne), she parlays the gig into permanent employment by offering the exec advice on how to crack the Hispanic market.
I Like It Like That is, at heart, a fairy tale. But that doesn’t keep it from having a gritty, gutsy edge.
Shortly after he gets out of jail, Chino admits his infidelity with Magdalena (Lisa Vidal), a neighborhood temptress. He also expresses his disapproval of Lisette’s working. Lisette responds by kicking the guy out of their apartment. The question of whether these angry antagonists will again be passionate lovers is what propels the rest of the movie.
Perhaps the most impressive and endearing quality of I Like It Like That is the generosity of spirit Martin evidences in dealing with all her characters. Even the record company exec isn’t the sexist porker he initially seems to be. And Chino, to his credit, actually tries to transform himself into a man worthy of his wife. As Seda effectively plays him, Chino is a macho hot-head who nevertheless wants to do the right thing, who truly wants to be a good father and a supportive husband. In a scene as revealing as it is hilarious, Chino struggles to repress an overwhelming urge to spank his sassy son. The nonviolent method he devises to discipline the boy is one of several pleasant surprises to be savored here.
