Talento de Barrio

Plot

Ramón Ayala (better known as Daddy Yankee) stars as Edgar Dinero, a young man from the streets of Puerto Rico who gets tangled between the thug life of his neighborhood and the beat of his neighborhood. On that path Edgar encounters disruption among his crew men, while falling in love with an uptown girl from whom Dinero must conceal his strong ties with the violent neighborhood underworld.

The movie was mostly shot in the Jose Gautier Benítez public housing project, and also in Barriada Morales, both barrios kings in the underworld in Caguas, PR. Other places used were Puerto Nuevo, in San Juan, and New York City.

Cast

Soundtrack

A soundtrack was released, featuring music by Daddy Yankee written only for the film. The soundtrack, however, does not include the film score, composed by Samuel López. The soundtrack features four singles "Pose", "Somos de Calle", "¿Qué Tengo Que Hacer?", and "Llamado de Emergencia". The music derives from Daddy Yankee's typical reggaeton style.

Home video

Talento de Barrio was released in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico on November 25, 2008 on DVD and Blu-ray Disc formats. The film is featured in Spanish and is subtitled in English on both the DVD and Blu-ray Disc versions.

Reception

The film had positive reviews in Puerto Rico. On Rotten Tomatoes, Talento de Barrio has received negative reviews, garnering 0% approval. V.A. Musetto of New York Post said in his review for the film: "Reggaeton star Daddy Yankee holds his own in his big-screen acting debut, Talento de Barrio. Too bad he's saddled with a generic script, based loosely on his own life". Monika Fabian of Time Out New York said: "Just as reggaetón is a fusion of hip-hop, reggae and traditional Puerto Rican rhythms, Talento de Barrio is also a mixture, albeit a woefully derivative one, of 8 Mile, Get Rich or Die Tryin' (film), Notorious (2009 film), Straight Outta Compton (film) and All Eyez on Me (film).