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Piñero

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Piñero

R

Released Dec 13, 2001

1h 43m

Biography

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

43%

Tomatometer

61 Reviews

69%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

Piñero tells the story of the turbulent and creative life of a Latino icon, the poet-playwright-actor Miguel Piñero (Benjamin Bratt), whose urban poetry is recognized as a precursor to rap and hip-hop. Piñero became a hero to many in both the theatrical and Latino worlds. But the resulting notoriety and fame was too much for the Latino bad-boy genius who died a premature death in 1988. His legend lives on.

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Critics Consensus

Though Bratt is great in the title role, the biopic itself is messy and Piñero grows tiresome.

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Lisa Alspector

Chicago Reader

Overlapping the artist's biography and his work, writer-director Leon Ichaso pointedly reflects the chaos in his subject's shortish life, but he links the artist's frustrations and talent in the usual manner: as cause and effect.

Jul 31, 2007

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Dennis Harvey

Variety

A scattershot stab at a fascinating life and times.

Jul 31, 2007

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Derek Adams

Time Out

Flashily but irritatingly shot, full of unmotivated switches from colour to b/w, sudden flashbacks, mannered slow mo and jump cuts, this is hardly a subtle evocation of its subject's life.

Feb 9, 2006

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Felix Vasquez Jr.

Cinema Crazed

A dull, slow, and completely uninteresting biopic.

Apr 29, 2009

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 2/5

Jul 19, 2005

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Eric D. Snider

EricDSnider.com

Who was Piero, and more to the point, why should we care? Bratt brings him to life, but we come away appreciating his genius no more than we did before.

Rated: C+

Dec 7, 2003

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U. L

Sorry, we need a Puerto Rican nit a Cuban to write about the incredible and tragic life of Miguel Pinero. The writer did not capture the essemce of the man. This film does not capture the whole story. The man was brilliant but the film not so much. I hope someone can make a movie that Is as brilliant as Pinero was. Que viva puerto rico!

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/12/25

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Audience Member

This biography of sorts about Miguel Piñero, a conspicuous figure of the Nuyorican movement, is tiresomely superfluous and distracting with its onslaught of jazzy soundtrack and camera work.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

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Audience Member

A great biopic film that realistically and emotionally shows a lesser-known but important life in Latino culture who is brilliantly played by Benjamin Bratt. It effectively shows the sensitivity and talent of the man in a film with no Hollywood sugar-coating.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

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Audience Member

If you don't know anything about this artist (like myself), you won't get much out of this biopic.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

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Audience Member

Great poetry of a miserable, so close to be fabulous life: "Cause even if I am half-and-half, any of the halves is more whole than all of you"

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

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Audience Member

**1/2 (out of four) Pinero was a poet who lived in New York. The troubled man's life was splattered with excessive drug and alcohol abuse. Benjamin Bratt stars as Pinero and he does a good job at showing the poet's torment and disinegration. But his performance is the highlight. The film never finds a cohereant narrative, losing its focus.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

Full Review

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Leon Ichaso

Director

Benjamin Bratt

Miguel Piñero

Giancarlo Esposito

Miguel Algarin

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Synopsis

Piñero tells the story of the turbulent and creative life of a Latino icon, the poet-playwright-actor Miguel Piñero (Benjamin Bratt), whose urban poetry is recognized as a precursor to rap and hip-hop. Piñero became a hero to many in both the theatrical and Latino worlds. But the resulting notoriety and fame was too much for the Latino bad-boy genius who died a premature death in 1988. His legend lives on.

Director: Leon Ichaso
Producer: John Penotti, Fisher Stevens, Tim Williams
Distributor: Miramax Films
Production Co: Lower East Side Films, GreeneStreet Films Inc.
Rating: R (Drug Use|Strong Language|Sexuality)
Genre: Biography, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 13, 2001, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 7, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $302.3K
Runtime: 1h 43m
Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby SR, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Dolby Stereo

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