Watch La Bamba
- PG-13
- 1987
- 1 hr 48 min
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6.9 (31,628)
In the romantic drama La Bamba, a young Hispanic man falls in love. His romance is thwarted by the woman's racist family. But the situation gets even more complicated when he becomes a pop star. The film is based on the life of real 60s pop star Richie Valens. The film has received broadly positive reviews from critics. Richard Steven Valenzuela (Phillips) is a normal teenage boy who becomes a rock 'n' roll superstar under the stage name Ritchie Valens. He meets and falls in love with fellow high school student Donna Ludwig (von Zerneck), for whom he wrote a song that became a number two hit ("Donna"). However, Donna's father is shown as having issues with his daughter dating a Mexican-American, which causes friction between Ritchie and Donna. The movie also has several subplots, such as his relationship with his mother Connie Valenzuela (DeSoto) and half-brother Bob Morales (Esai Morales), and the jealousy Bob felt toward Ritchie because of Ritchie's success.
