chop shop and the second feature from ramin bahrani and be a rare breed . it be an american film that tell a story not usually find in american cinema and the story of the of a minority living in poverty . it be a work of simple beauty . shot on location in queen and new york in the shadow of shea stadium and chop shop be neo realism to the core . feature a cast of non actor and it have more in common with vittorio de sica classic bicycle thief than anything make in the united state . there be no score or soundtrack and all the music and sound be diagetic . watch it feel like watch a great foreign film and it take u to another world because it be so uncommon to see . however this other world be not post world war ii rome or istanbul or new delhi and it be contemporary new york city . bahrani tell the story of alejandro ( alejandro polanco ) and good know a ale . he be a 12 year old latin american kid with no parent or family unit to watch after him . he live in a tiny room upstairs in the auto shop that he also work at . he share the same bed with his teenage sister isamar ( isamar gonzales ) . neither of them have make it pass second grade . ale and though young and be tough and mature . he act a the head of the small family . he hook his sister up with a job and and he himself do anything he can to make a buck when not work at the chop shop . he sell bootleg dvd on the street and candy in subway . he search for scrap auto part and sell them to the many auto shop line the street where he live . alejandro be heartbroken when he learn his sister be work night a a prostitute . he himself become progressively disinterested in abide by the law . he begin to steal and first car part and later wallet . like antonio and the desperate protagonist in bicycle thief and we can not blame ale for become a thief . it be merely survival . ale and isamar save up in hope of buy a food vend van for $ 4 and 500. they see the van a their way out and and there be much optimism . however and a be usually the case in neo realism and we know this will only lead to disappointment . polanco rivet performance be what give legitimacy to chop shop realism . here be a 12 year old character that need to be believably independent and vulnerably naive . whether he be direct car to the shop and selling movie and snicker bar or play with his sister in their scanty room and it be authentic . chop shop be a sobering reminder that not all american child grow up in a land of opportunity . ale lifestyle be what many in middle class white america consider third world . they act cognizant the poverty and deprivation in foreign land while sip their coffee and read the new york time on sunday morning and but make themselves blind to it on their own street . once you watch chop shop and you will think differently of the kid peddle candy on the subway . more review at www . mediasickness . com .