This searing drama, the directorial debut of star Edward James Olmos, is an ambitious fusion of crime epic à la The Godfather and social exposé. It's a tough balance to pull off, but American Me works because it maintains this agenda by balancing brutal realism with dramatic subtlety. As it charts the way the criminal justice system allows misguided kids to become hardened criminals, the film achieves an impressive sense of tragic grandeur without ever pulling its punches or giving in to cheap melodrama. That said, American Me isn't an easy film to warm up to for more than one reason. The first is its refusal to flinch from the ugly reality of its subject matter; though it is never dealt out in a glorified manner, American Me presents the savage violence of the drug trade with a gruesome, vivid sense of detail that will shock many people. The other reason is that it doesn't give the viewer an identification figure to latch on to; the central characters aren't presented in a way that inspires sympathy, and none of them ever experience an audience-friendly moment of redemption. These factors may limit the appeal of American Me, but it remains well worth the effort for the brave viewer because it is an extremely well-made film. Olmos reveals himself to be quite a stylist behind the camera, making deft use of cross-cutting to amplify the film's level of drama during key sequences and crafting a number of nerve-jangling set pieces along the way (an assassination during a prison film screening is a standout). He also gives a powerful yet controlled performance as Santana, and his work is skillfully supported by an array of distinguished supporting performances, most notably Evelina Fernandez as his ill-fated love interest and Danny De La Paz as a colleague whose faithfulness to his criminal organization comes with a heavy cost. To sum up, American Me is not for every viewer but anyone interested in a powerful, realistic crime drama will find it a rewarding experience.