Garcia competes in the lightweight division, so you would hardly know she bench-presses like a monster from looking at her. She also has solid grades, but her mother’s questionable finances have undermined her hope for financial aid. Scared of taking on more debt, no family member will co-sign a student loan for her. About the only person in her largely Hispanic Texas town who is not enthusiastic about the military, Garcia starts to consider ways to get an added additional edge. That might not help her anger management issues much.
ASC might sound like a clean-and-jerk Rocky, but it does not climax with the big meet. Instead, it flounders about for a while, as Garcia struggles for redemption. Part of that process involves assisting an illegal and her son reunite with her husband in San Antonio. Indeed, it seems Garcia’s actions are intended as a conscious censure of the well-established Mexican-American community, exemplified by her brother-in-law Luis, whom viewers are clearly supposed to be scandalized by their unaccommodating response to illegal immigration. However, when Wendel cranks down the didacticism, ASC and Garcia begin to find themselves, embracing a new sense of personal responsibility and straightening out her life trajectory with the wise counsel of reasonable adults.
Corina Calderon has the right look for the film—attractive but not delicate. She is a compelling presence, even during the melodramatic detour. Julio César Cedillo’s Coach Chapa is also an engaging figure. Indeed, he is a rare movie animal: an authority figure with dedication and integrity. Yet, perhaps Joseph Julian Soria stands out the most for his dynamic, richly nuanced turn as Luis, even if the film is rather ambivalent about his character’s work ethic and respect for law.
