The writers include William T. Conway and Joe Ray Sandoval. The film was produced by Karen Koch and William T. Conway. It opened in New York City at Big Cinemas Manhattan 1 on July 23, 2010, and played in Los Angeles at Laemmle's Sunset 5 on July 30, 2010. [citation needed]
Cruz Montoya is a Latinospoken-word artist who works in San Francisco. He returns home to Santa Fe, New Mexico to reconnect with his dying father and his brother. He is finding himself losing his "voice" as he spirals downward back into the dysfunctional life of drugs and violence he had left behind.[2]
His brother is judgmental. Cruz is approached by his former boss Emilio, who works as a local drug dealer. Cruz falls into the familiar patterns of his past while ignoring the increasingly anxious phone calls of his girlfriend. Cruz is also suffering from bipolar disorder and uses alcohol to self-medicate.[1]
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film has a score of 46% based on reviews from 13 critics, with an average rating of 5.4/10.[3] On Metacritic, Spoken Word have a rank of 56 out of a 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[4]