'Clika' review: Lazy youth-culture movie makes Latin music look dull, derivative

Poverty, violence, drugs, warring cartels and clashing generations — it’s all fuel for corridos tumbados, a Latin music subgenre rooted in Mexico. Though played with guitars, it’s inspired by hip-hop and is in some ways repeating that history: The lyrical facts and fantasies can be hard to distinguish, and politicians have responded with bans and crackdowns. Yet for all the handwringing, corridos tumbados — also called trap corridos — are spreading worldwide. Just ask the Spanish-only superstar Bad Bunny, who recently remixed Natanael Cano’s corrido "Soy El Diablo."

Latin music overall is surely one of the most vibrant genres around, but watching "Clika," the first feature-film produced by the upstart music label Rancho Humilde, you wouldn’t know it. A plodding pastiche of countless "hood" movies, "Clika" unfortunately makes corridos look like rap’s lazy little brother. (The screenplay is by director Michael Green, Sean McBride and label founder Jimmy Humilde.) By casting a Humilde-approved star in a semi-autobiographical role, the movie tries to borrow a page from the Eminem vehicle "8 Mile" or even 50 Cent’s "Get Rich or Die Tryin’." But the star, JayDee, is no Eminem in the acting department; he makes the notoriously unexpressive 50 Cent look like Al Pacino.

JayDee plays Chito, a fruit picker from Yuba City with dreams of musical stardom. He supports his mom, Mari (Nana Ponceleon), and records tracks with budding producer Blunt (played by the frolicsome YouTuber DoKnow). "There are no shortcuts to your dreams," Chito tells us in a voice-over, but he seeks one anyway by running black market marijuana for his Uncle Alfredo (the actor-rapper Concrete). Even as Chito’s music begins to draw astonishing social-media views (45 million in one day!), he keeps drug running to buy nice jewelry for his churchgoing girlfriend, Candy (Laura Lopez).

That storyline isn’t very compelling — Chito could quit, he just doesn’t — and JayDee’s mumbling, uncertain performance does not exactly make the material crackle. His skinny frame, red beard and possibly stoned affect might convey a quirky cool in concert, but on screen he is virtually invisible. Hunched and hesitant, with shoulders drawn in, JayDee looks physically afraid of the camera and of his fellow actors. (Lopez, in particular, reduces him to complete paralysis). Many of his lines are barely audible, even when they’re as simple as "Yeah," "No" or "Whatever." Only when he’s half-reclined on a couch with a blunt does he start to look halfway natural.

"Clika," whose title means clique or posse, is harmless enough; its R rating comes from language, not violence or sex. It also seems like a well-intentioned attempt to highlight Latin music and mint a new star. By sticking to formula at every turn, however, it does neither any favors.

By Rafer Guzmán

rafer.guzman@newsday.com