Efren Ramirez Movies
Efren Ramirez may not yet be a household name, but his visage is already etched in the minds of millions of moviegoers, thanks to one role. As Pedro, the diminutive, bumbling Latino sidekick who runs for student office in Jared Hess' quirky 2004 cult film Napoleon Dynamite, Ramirez does wonders with small-scale comic schtick. But Dynamite only marked the beginning; Ramirez refuses to be typed, continually testing his mettle and expanding his repertoire by branching out into a broad array of roles and character types. "Now I must tell you," he admitted to an interviewer, "[Dynamite] is only the beginning. Wait until you see my next films. I enjoy the exploration of characters...[and] I'm only getting started." Born in Los Angeles to a slightly itinerant family of mixed Salvadorian and Mexican descent, Ramirez attended parochial schools as a youngster, while his working-class parents sustained two jobs apiece to fund their children's private education. Mrs. Ramirez inadvertently sent Efren and his brothers to after-school drama classes in an effort to keep them out of trouble, but in Efren's case, the casual pastime blossomed into a passion. Mentored in drama by the famed actress Diane Venora (F/X, Bird, Heat), as well as thespians Laura Henry and Gloria E. Gifford, Ramirez expended blood, sweat, and tears to hone his acting ability to a fine point; he frequently landed supporting roles in such TV series as Judging Amy, The District, ER, and Boston Public. His official big screen debut, however, arrived in the form of Tom Musca's little-seen 1998 sociopolitical satire Race (aka Melting Pot), about a Chicano housepainter from East L.A. (Paul Rodriguez) who runs for city council office. Tertiary roles in Carl Schenkel's 2000 Hallmark Hall of Fame effort Missing Pieces and Ron Krauss' 2001 Rave followed, but Ramirez went little noticed in either film. Only in 2003, when director Jared Hess enlisted Ramirez to play Pedro in his debut feature Napoleon Dynamite did Ramirez's visibility shoot off like a rocket. He worked diligently to develop the Pedro characterization, and brushed up on his exposure to Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, weaving influences from each screen comedian into his own voice and emerging with a thoroughly unique character. Dynamite, of course, became the success d'estime of the 2004 Sundance Film Festival and a surprise runaway hit; it also made Ramirez' career.Innumerable offers and projects followed, which saw Ramirez gradually ascend to higher and higher billing. The most immediate efforts included key contributions to four well-profiled 2006 productions. Crank, an urban thriller from Lionsgate with Jason Statham and Amy Smart, in which Ramirez portrays the transvestite Kaylo; the same year's comedy All You've Got, co-starring Faizon Love and Clara Harris; and the 2006 Dane Cook/Jessica Simpson vehicle Employee of the Month, wherein Ramirez appears as Jorge.
2006's Walk Out, from MTV Films, marks Ramirez's first lead performance. He stars opposite Edward James Olmos, Michael Pena, and Alexa Vega, as Bobby Verdugo, an East L.A.-born Chicano student who fights for better educational conditions during the Chicano movement in 1968.
In his free time, Ramirez loves to DJ, and frequently travels around the country doing guest spins. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- 2009
- R
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Reality and video games merge in this high-concept sci-fi action thriller from Crank creators Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor. In the not too distant future, mind-control technology allows humans to control the actions and movements of other humans, allowing reclusive billionaire Ken Castle (Michael C. Hall) to create the ultimate video game. It's called "Slayers," and it's a mass-scale, multiplayer online first-person shooter that's as controversial as it is popular. In the world of gamers, Simon (Logan Lerman) is a rock star; miraculously managing to keep his character alive week after week, he racks up frags like Billy Mitchell jumps barrels. But unlike Mitchell's Mario, Simon's video-game avatar is a living, breathing human being named Kable (Gerard Butler). Defying the odds to keep Kable running and gunning though even the most explosive battles, Simon captures the imagination of a global audience. Torn from his family, thrown into prison, and forced to fight against his will, Kable realizes that his only hope of ever seeing his family again is to somehow escape the game, reclaim his identity, and expose Castle's dehumanizing technology on live television. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gerard Butler, Amber Valletta, (more)
The indestructible hopped-up hitman Chev Chelios, played to the hilt once again by Jason Statham, returns in Crank High Voltage, picking up where the first film left off -- except this time, Chelios is chasing a Chinese gangster who hijacked his heart and substituted it with a mechanical one that needs to be jolted with an electric charge to stay pumping. Back for the fun is Chev's girlfriend Eve (my Smart) and his physician Doc Miles (Dwight Yoakam), who, as luck has it, turns out to be an ex-heart surgeon. As Chelios delves deeper into the mystery surrounding his stolen heart, he discovers that the answers to his questions lie within the chest of a 100-year old head of the Triad gang, Poon Dong (David Carradine. The maverick directing/writing team of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor returns to inject more caffeinated craziness into Lionsgate's burgeoning action series, with Efren Ramirez, Bai Ling, Clifton Collins Jr., and Corey Haim rounding out the supporting cast. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Statham, Amy Smart, (more)
- 2009
Better Off Dead and One Crazy Summer director Savage Steve Holland returns to the helm for this comedy concerning a dictator's son who travels to America to attend college. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Efren Ramirez, Katrina Bowden, (more)
Directed by former Happy Days cast member Don Most, the comedy Moola stars William Mapother and Daniel Baldwin as best friends who are working together at a business that is failing. When a new venture offers them the promise of success, the duo face a series of challenges that tests their loyalty and friendship. Moola screened at the 2007 Newport Beach Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Mapother, Daniel Baldwin, (more)
Two Southern California volleyball teams determined to prove their superiority on the court find out that they're not as different as they previously thought after tragedy strikes close to home in director Neema Barnette's affectionate sports drama. The Madonnas and the Phantoms are two volleyball teams with a longstanding grudge. With a bitter rivalry that frequently spills off of the court and into the streets, the Madonnas and the Phantoms appear to have nothing in common until fate forces them to break down the social and cultural barriers that bind them. Now determined to keep it together on the court as they make their way to the championships, these former rivals are about to find out what true sportsmanship is really all about. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ciara, Faizon Love, (more)
Made for cable, Walkout is the true story of a little-known but profoundly significant moment in the history of the Latino community in East Los Angeles. In 1968, Lincoln High School honor student Paula Crisostomo (Alexa Vega), outraged at the shabby treatment afforded Chicano students in the L.A. school system -- including habitually lowered expectations, poor facilities, a total absence of bilingual courses or textbooks, unfairly administered penalties for slight infractions, demeaning corporal punishment, and out-of-hand refusal to write letters of recommendation to choice colleges -- challenges the authority of her elders for the first time in her life by organizing a mass student walkout at five barrio high schools. Mentored by dedicated young teacher Sal Castro (Michael Pena), Paula and her fellow student activists intend to make their protest a peaceful one, but the L.A. cops typically use brute force to quell the "radicals." Even when it seems that the school board will capitulate to the Chicano students' demands, the kids are betrayed (there's an undercover police officer in their midst) and the leaders of the walkout are threatened with lengthy prison sentences on trumped-up "conspiracy" charges. It will not spoil the ending of the film to reveal that the students are ultimately successful; as directed by actor Edward James Olmos (who also plays one of the school board members), the dramatic thrust of the story is the lasting effect that the protest has on its participants -- especially the idealistic Paula Crisostomo. Executive producer Moctesuma Esparza, who'd been one of the original walkout organizers back in 1968, spent a full two decades getting this story on film; Esparza is played by Bodie Olmos, son of the director, while Esparza's daughter Tonantzin Esparza is seen as Vickie Castro. Also, Paula Crisostomo's daughter Marisol Crisostomo-Romo is seen as Mita -- and in addition, several of the former student activists are interviewed during the closing credits, or appear as extras in the crowd scenes. Produced for HBO, Walkout originally aired on March 18, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alexa Vega, Michael Peña, (more)
When a pair of ultra-competitive clerks at a discount super store discovers that a beautiful, newly-transferred cashier has a reputation for only dating employees who have won the coveted Employee of the Month award, their desperate efforts to earn the title and get the girl lead to a hilarious war of one-upmanship in this winner-takes-all comedy starring Dane Cook, Jessica Simpson, and Dax Shepard. Zack Bradley (Cook) and Vince Downey (Shepard) have been working at the cavernous Super Club for ten years and counting, but while the ambitious Vince has advanced to the position of head cashier and landed 17 consecutive "E of M" awards, laid-back Zack is content to simply sit back and enjoy the company of his fellow box boys. Longtime rivals whose conflicting attitudes as to what constitutes success has led to more than a few conflicts, Vince and Zack find their bitter battle for Super Club supremacy coming to a head when attractive new employee Amy (Simpson) transfers over from another store. When word quickly spreads that Amy only has eyes for the cream of the crop, slacker Zack attempts to clean up his act and break free from his box boy roots while uptight Vince tries to impress by maintaining his top dog position and keep cool in the face of competition. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dane Cook, Jessica Simpson, (more)
A one-time freelance hitman who was just attempting to turn his life around is forced to keep his heart pumping when his vengeful former employers inject him with a lethal poison that will permanently stop his ticker if his pulse sinks beneath an active rate in a non-stop urban action extravaganza starring Jason Statham and Amy Smart. Chev Chelios (Statham) was one of the most skilled assassins in the West Coast crime syndicate. When he hung up his guns in the middle of a job to run off with his new girlfriend Eve (Smart), however, the man who was once the hunter now becomes the hunted. Awakened from his slumber by a telephone call informing him of his precarious situation, Chelios soon discovers that the only way to save Eve from certain death at the hands of his nemesis is to stay two steps ahead of his killers, keep his heart-rate high enough to stay alive, and blast through the streets of Los Angeles in search of an antidote. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Statham, Amy Smart, (more)
The directorial debut of filmmaker Jared Hess, who also co-wrote the screenplay, Napoleon Dynamite is a quirky, offbeat comedy set in the small Idaho town of Preston. Jon Heder stars in the titular role, a carrot-topped oddball with a decidedly eccentric family that includes his llama-loving, dune-buggy enthusiast grandmother. The story centers on the local high school's race for class president. Using some nontraditional means, Napoleon is determined to help his pal Pedro (Efrem Ramirez) run a winning campaign and defeat popular girl Summer (Haylie Duff). Also starring The Drew Carey Show's Diedrich Bader, Napoleon Dynamite premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- 2001
A handful of teenagers learns there can be a dark side to a good time in this independent drama. Mary (Aimee Graham), Tracy (Tricia Dickson), and Sadie (Nicholle Tom) are three girls from wealthy families who are bored, self-consciously hip, and looking for some fun one night. When the girls hear about a rave being held in a massive warehouse in downtown Los Angeles, they decide to join the party, accompanied by Brian (Scott Torrence), a gay friend who loves the high-energy flash of the dance scene. Also on hand for the rave is Daffy (Douglas Spain), an Hispanic teen whose relationship with his father (Steven Bauer) has hit a rough spot -- and whose girlfriend Nette (Tamara Mello) has just learned she's going to have a baby. Also making the scene are Jay (Dante Basco), a youth of Korean descent who is at the rave against the orders of his father; Lazy (Shaun Weiss), a cheerful laid-back stoner; his pal JP (Franco Vega), a young tough with a hair-trigger temper; and Sky (Chris Weber), a dealer who specializes in drugs for the rave clientele. While most of the kids aren't looking for any more than a place to dance and have a good time, by the end of the night the discover they've entered a world more dangerous than they imagined. Rave was the first feature film from director Ron Krauss. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Douglas Spain, Aimee Graham, (more)
- 2000
Based on Atticus, a novel by Ron Hansen, this Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation stars James Coburn as widowed Colorado rancher Atticus Cody. In the months since Atticus' wife was killed in a car accident caused by his artist son Scott (Paul Kersey), the boy has ached for his father's forgiveness. Alas, though he still loves his son, Atticus is by nature taciturn and distant, and is unable to reach out to the grieving Scott. Upon discovering that his father has kept the wreckage of the "death car" on his ranch, the confused Scott decides that no closure is possible, whereupon he returns to the dusty Mexican village that has long been his home. Later, Atticus receives word that Scott has committed suicide--and upon arriving in Mexico, it is his turn to suffer the pangs of guilt, thanks to the relentless remonstrations of Scott's girlfriend Renata (Lisa Zane). But nothing is quite what Renata makes it out to be, as Atticus discovers to his astonishment upon hearing a cache of "audio letters" recorded by Scott just before his death. A delicate blend of domestic drama and "whodunit", Missing Pieces debuted February 6, 2000, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Tom Musca directed this social satire on the United States electoral system. The comedy-drama explores how class and race divisions impact on the process when a Chicano housepainter in East Los Angeles decides to run for the city council. Pressured by his wife (Annette Murphy), Gustavo Alvarez (Paul Rodriguez) competes for the council seat left vacant when veteran Jack Durman (Cliff Robertson) retires, but he faces stiff competition from his opponent, the forceful black Lucinda Davis (C.C.H. Pounder). After the two split the Latino and black votes, the campaign begins to get lowdown and dirty as both candidates take aim with cheap shots and corrosive accusations. Stan Ridgway (formerly with Wall of Voodoo) provided the film's Latin-rock music score. Shown at the 1998 Seattle film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Rodriguez, CCH Pounder, (more)
