good to us, we've been very lucky, and our life it has been very...very good" and the camera pans to a shot of Los Angeles. Cast Jimmy Smits as Jimmy Sánchez Jonathan Hernandez as Young Jimmy Sánchez Edward James Olmos as Paco Sánchez Benito Martinez as Young Paco Sánchez Esai Morales as Jesus "Chucho" Sánchez Elpidia Carrillo as Isabel Magaña Sánchez Enrique Castillo as Guillermo "Memo" Sánchez Greg Albert as Young Memo Sánchez Rafael Cortés as Roberto Sánchez Michael DeLorenzo as Butch Mejia Constance Marie as Toni Sánchez Scott Bakula as David Ronconi Lupe Ontiveros as Irene Sánchez Maria Canals as Young Irene Sánchez León Singer as El Californio Mary Steenburgen as Gloria Dedee Pfeiffer as Karen Gillespie Bibi Besch as Mrs. Gillespie Bruce Gray as Mr. Gillespie Eduardo Lopez Rojas as Jose Sánchez Jacob Vargas as Young Jose Sánchez Jenny Gago as Maria Sánchez Jennifer Lopez as Young Maria Sánchez Production While the film was distributed by New Line Cinema, many production companies were involved in the making of the film, including: American Playhouse, Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope, Majestic Films International, and Newcomb Productions. Gregory Nava has stated that the film has autobiographic overtones, but the film was more inspirational rather than specific. Nava says, "A lot of the specifics came from other families when I was doing research for the film in East Los Angeles." The final scene is duplicated shot-for-shot from the final scene of Satyajit Ray's 1959 film The World of Apu. Filming Filming began in 1994. The film was shot in both California and Mexico. In California, locations included Agoura Hills, Highland Park, Los Angeles and East Los Angeles. Mexican locations included Ocumicho, Patamba, and Pátzcuaro, which are all in the state of Michoacán. Reception Critical response Reviews were generally positive. The film has a 79% "Fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes, based on 58 reviews from professional critics. Roger Ebert, film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, liked the direction of the film, and wrote, "Their story is told in images of startling beauty and great overflowing energy; it is rare to hear so much laughter from an audience that is also sometimes moved to tears. Few movies like this get made because few filmmakers have the ambition to open their arms wide and embrace so much life." Film critics Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, who write for the web based Spirituality and Practice, liked