At the end of the movie Enrique sacrifices everything for Carlitos. Everything for a boy that he claims to care nothing about. In one of the most touching moments of this film, Enrique throws his cup of coffee at the cops and then runs around while Carlitos escapes and eventually finds his mom. This scene reminds me of the essence of human life: decisions and sacrifice.
In Houston Carlitos meets his father that had abandoned him from birth. In one of the other touching scenes of the movie Carlitos tells his father that he forgives him. His father agrees to take him to his mom in Los Angeles but the next day he was a no show, breaking Carlitos heart. His father was forced to make a decision and he chose what many do...the easy path.
Throughout Carlitos journey to LA Enrique becomes his unlikely companion. From the beginning Enrique tried to make the choice to leave Carlitos but wasn't given the opportunity. After that he complains about Carlitos non stop yet continues to help and support him. The pinnacle of the movie is the scene shown above where he has to make a choice again. This time Enrique atones for his original decision to leave Carlitos and as mentioned sacrifices everything to set him free. While being arrested by the police Enrique smiles and nods to Carlitos. This man was also faced with a choice and he chose the unselfish and herder route but in doing so blessed the life of someone who needed it. Even though he had "thrown away" everything...he was happy.
The decision to sacrifice set Enrique free even though it led to his arrest. He took to heart the words of Carlitos on the bus when he said that anyone can change. He had to make the conscious choice to change an help Carlitos. In doing so Enrique discovered what some have but even more search for their entire lives...that there are few things more liberating than deciding to help someone else.
