La MISSION

“La Mission” was clearly a labor of love for the Bratt brothers: Peter wrote and directed it, Benjamin is the star, and both took a producer’s credit. They were born in San Francisco in the early 1960s, and the film conveys an intense nostalgia for the Mission District of their youth. The garage of Che Rivera (Benjamin Bratt), a bus driver, ex-con and middle-aged low rider, is a shrine to the post-hippie, pre-gentrification 1970s: César Chávez, Clint Eastwood, Vito Corleone; Alcoholics Anonymous, Chicano culture, the Stylistics. The distinguished cinematographer Hiro Narita (“Never Cry Wolf”) captures the hard San Francisco light and the burnished glow of the beautifully painted cars.