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.
MPAA Rating: | PG-13 |
Genre: | Biography, Drama, Music |
Country: | United States |
Produced By: | Daniel Valdez, Stuart Benjamin, Bill Borden, Taylor Hackford |
Directed By: | Luis Valdez |
Written By: | Luis Valdez |
Cast: | Thom Pintello, Art K. Koustik, Mike Moroff, Linda Holdahl, Danielle Von Zerneck, Esai Morales, Mary Ann Tanedo, Noble Willingham, Felipe Cantu, Brian Setzer, Howard Huntsberry, Kim Sebastian, Dyana Ortelli, Eddie Frias, Reynaldo Silva, Jeffrey Alan Chandler, Matthew Shields, Marshall Crenshaw, Stephen Lee, Tony Genaro, Thomas Rosales Jr., Joe Pantoliano, Rosanna Locke, Elizabeth Peña, Diane Rodriguez, John Quade, Stephen F. Schmidt, Rosanna DeSoto, Andy Griggs, Maggie Gwinn, Frank Aragon, Sam Anderson, Daniel Valdez, Rick Dees, Lou Diamond Phillips, Ernesto Hernández, Geoffrey Rivas |
In Theaters: | Jul 24, 1987 |
Runtime: | 1 hour 48 minutes |
Production: | Columbia Pictures, New Visions |
Budget: | $6,500,000 |
Box Office: | $54,215,416 |
Available On: | Amazon, Itunes, Vudu |
Read More On: | Wikipedia |