Spoken Word (film)

2009 American film

Spoken Word

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Victor Nuñez
Written by|

* William T. Conway
* Joe Ray Sandoval

Produced by|

* Karen Koch
* William T. Conway

Starring|

* Kuno Becker
* Ruben Blades
* Miguel Sandoval
* Persia White

Cinematography| Virgil Mirano
Edited by|

* Victor Nunez
* Justin Geoffroy

Music by| Michael Brook

Production
companies

* New Mexico Media Partners
* Luminaria Productions

Distributed by| Variance Films

Release dates

* March 1, 2009 (2009-03-01) (Aguascalientes Festival)
* July 23, 2010 (2010-07-23) (United States)

Running time

| 116 minutes
Country| United States
Language| English

Spoken Word is a 2009 drama film directed by Victor Nuñez and starring Kuno Becker, Ruben Blades, Miguel Sandoval and Persia White.[1]

The writers include William T. Conway and Joe Ray Sandoval. The film was produced by Karen Koch and William T. Conway. It opened in New York City at Big Cinemas Manhattan 1 on July 23, 2010, and played in Los Angeles at Laemmle's Sunset 5 on July 30, 2010. [citation needed]

## Plot

[edit]

This article's plot summary needs to be improved. Please help do so. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. (November 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

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Cruz Montoya is a Latino spoken-word artist who works in San Francisco. He returns home to Santa Fe, New Mexico to reconnect with his dying father and his brother. He is finding himself losing his "voice" as he spirals downward back into the dysfunctional life of drugs and violence he had left behind.[2]

His brother is judgmental. Cruz is approached by his former boss Emilio, who works as a local drug dealer. Cruz falls into the familiar patterns of his past while ignoring the increasingly anxious phone calls of his girlfriend. Cruz is also suffering from bipolar disorder and uses alcohol to self-medicate.[1]

## Cast

[edit]

* Kuno Becker as Cruz Montoya
* Ruben Blades as Senior
* Miguel Sandoval as Emilio
* Persia White as Shae
* Rashaan Nall as Cloudy
* Chris Ranney as Bartender

## Reception

[edit]

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film has a score of 46% based on reviews from 13 critics, with an average rating of 5.4/10.[3] On Metacritic, Spoken Word have a rank of 56 out of a 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[4]

Nick Schager of Slant Magazine gave the film one star out of 4,[5] while Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it 3 out of 4 and called Spoken Word "A rich and textured film".[6]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Catsoulis, Jeanette (July 22, 2010). "The Difficulties of Escaping the Past". The New York Times. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
2. ^ Scheck, Frank (July 22, 2010). "Spoken Word — Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
3. ^ "Spoken Word (2009)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
4. ^ "Spoken Word (2019)". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
5. ^ Schager, Nick (July 21, 2010). "Review: Spoken Word". Slant Magazine.
6. ^ Ebert, Roger (August 4, 2010). "A poet at a loss for words". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved August 17, 2021.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* Spoken Word at IMDb
* Spoken Word at the TCM Movie Database
* Spoken Word at ComingSoon.net
* Spoken Word at Yahoo! Movies
* Spoken Word at IMP Awards
* Spoken Word at Box Office Mojo

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Victor Nuñez

* Gal Young Un (1979)
* A Flash of Green (1984)
* Ruby in Paradise (1993)
* Ulee's Gold (1997)
* Coastlines (2002)
* Spoken Word (2009)
* Rachel Hendrix (2023)

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