Now streaming on: Spoken Word opens with the startling sound of a gunshot, but the gun appears only in a poem being performed by the hero, Cruz Martinez. He s a star on the San Francisco poetry slam scene and teaches a class for young students at what looks like it might be Dave Eggers 826 Valencia workshop for neighborhood kids. He lives with a warm and loving artist, and his life seems good.
He gets a call from home, in the country outside Santa Fe, N.M. His father is dying. He returns not only to his father, but to his earlier life. Pops (Latin music icon Ruben Blades) is pleased to see his son, but is reserved; Cruz (Kuno Becker) hasn t stayed in close touch. They re not estranged, it s more that, as Cruz observes, the men in this family don t talk much. It s clear he has a history in the area; old friends welcome him, but he keeps his distance.