This film puts a very real face on illegal immigration, told through the relationship of a single father from Mexico and his 14-year-old son born in Los Angeles. For political reasons, a lot of people will not like the message in this movie: no laws will stop people from seeking a better life, whether their choices take them across a border or into low-paying, degrading jobs or gang membership or auto theft. The pursuit of happiness is not always pretty or noble. This is a film well worth watching for those who have the stomach for a kind of hard reality rarely shown on TV.