Echo Park (Quinceanera)

On the eve of her 15th birthday, eccentric Magdalena (Rios) has convinced herself that she has conceived without having sex - and she's not technically wrong. When her relationship with her father becomes strained, Magdalena packs her bags and moves in with her elderly great-uncle Tomas (Chalo Gonzalez) and abrasive cousin Carlos (Jesse Garcia).As if life wasn't as tough as it is, a gay couple in a neighbouring apartment begin an odd relationship with her cousin and Magdalena finds herself struggling to hold her dysfunctional life together while trying to organise her Quinceanera - a coming-of-age ceremony for a Latino girl. It might sound a bit heavy and could have being just another tearjerker, but writer/directors Glatzer and Westmoreland - both residents in Echo Park - give the events a much-needed buoyancy that at times leans over into off-beat comedy. Instead of homing on the gay and ethnic issues, Glatzer and Westmoreland present their characters as underdogs and outsiders, which is a welcome diversity when most movies (including their previous outings Grief and Kent Turner) would jump in feet first, studs showing. 16-year-old Rios, in her first role in a film played by mostly non-professional actors, delivers a commanding central performance as a young girl caught in a situation beyond her control but determined to triumph over it.