Pinero

Starring: Benjamin Bratt, Mandy Patinkin

RS: Not Rated

Drama

Pinero, an annoyingly hyper biopic of Puerto Rican poet, playwright and actor Miguel Pinero, shows off Benjamin Bratt's considerable acting chops. But that's all. Pinero turned his New York jailbird-junkie experiences into street poetry and a Tony-nominated play, Short Eyes. He died in 1988, at forty-two, his liver destroyed by lifelong substance abuse. "I have to keep doing bad to keep the writing good," he said. There's a strong movie in this life, but writer-director Leon Ichaso (Sugar Hill) hasn't found it.

PETER TRAVERS
(RS 887- Jan. 17, 2002)