Allison Anders knows how to uncover big themes in small places. Places like the closed world of Chicano gangs in the sun-drenched, graffiti-spattered Los Angeles barrio of Echo Park. Behind the cool attitudes and sunglasses, Echo Park is a home for terminal romantics with poetic names like Shadow, Giggles, and Whisper, rebellious teens who believe in True Love. Mousie and Sad Girl, inseparable friends, fall for the same guy and both have a child by him. Their ensuing bitterness becomes so profound they are ready to kill each other. Life in the barrio eventually teaches them to abandon their romantic idealism....The film has all the warmth and realism of a Diner for Chicanas, but it pulls no punches. From the rituals of violence, the gang emerges as the only functioning family unit. Wise are the veteranas who can see beyond their day-to-day conflicts and make a place for themselves-a place with love, self-respect, and an improvised sense of familia.-Miguel Pendàs, San Francisco Int'l Film Festival '94