The Outline

  The film starts off focusing on the life of three related young men, the half-brothers Paco (Benjamin Bratt), Cruz (Jesse Borrego), and their bi-racial cousin Miklo (Damian Chapa). Both Paco and Cruz are members of an East L.A street gang known as Vatos Locos (Crazy Fools), where Miklo also wants to be part of but his cousin Paco rejects him due to his skin color, blue eyes, and blonde hair. “I may be white from the outside, but I'm brown on the inside, to the bone” -Miklo.  Miklo picks up his pride, proves himself to Paco by attacking members from a rival gang and gets accepted into Vatos Locos. The rival gang retaliates by injuring Cruz’s back for life and nearly ending his dream to pursue a career as an artist. The half brother, newly gang member cousin and the rest of the Vatos Locos become furious and attack early in the morning. The mission is accomplished at the break of dawn but turns into a high pursuit chase with Miklo bleeding to death in the back seat of a car. Paco crashes into another car and the rest of the gang members flee, leaving Paco and Miklo behind to get arrested. The related gang members’ life takes a dramatic split in a three way street. Paco gets send to boot camp to avoid time in jail, where he later joins the Marines and becomes an L.A narcotics detective afterwards. Cruz is able to continue his life as an artist but sinks in deeply into the addiction of heroin making him believe it’s the main cure to his back pain, and Miklo gets send to San Quentin prison where he receives the same disrespect his cousin Paco gave him before coming a member of Vatos Locos, but to gain the respect as a Hispanic he must prove himself to the Hispanic prison gang La Onda. With Miklo becoming a member of La Onda after killing a member from a white prison gang and Paco as an officer, problems and hate grow between them. The forfeits and betrayals both must make gets Paco closer to his drug addict brother and leads Miklo to becoming the leader of La Onda.