I liked this movie. It's good for washing you off Hollywood stuff once in a while. The camera behavior differs from the habitual and leaves you pondering and doing your own interpretation in a variety of moments. This different take leaves you in the edge of the couch sometimes! It also shows how easy it is for a stupid young man to buy loads of guns and how easy it is for a young man to choose the wrong path.
... View MoreYou'd be better off reading the plot of this somewhere and saving yourself some time. But if you like watching different people driving vehicles for extended periods from a passenger's perspective, you'll love this. The makers were obviously looking for some kind of real-time realism by keeping the camera lingering on scenes where nothing important happens, where a person is just thinking and driving. This kind of reminded me of car interior scenes in early Tarantino films (the only ones of his worth watching). However, they were more stylish and involved action and purpose.In this movie, the okay acting is spoiled by the pointlessly long lingering shots in vehicles and elsewhere. Check out Sicario instead if you're looking for a Mexican cartel movie and avoid this one.
... View MoreReview: I've always been a fan of Tim Roth, because he usually puts in great performances, especially when he teams up with Tarantino but this movie was awful. The pace is really slow throughout and there was way to many airy scenes, which had no dialogue and we're completely unnecessary. Roth, who plays federal agent, Hank Harris, is on a case to take down gun traffickers across the US to Mexico border but when he goes to arrest the young driver who is carrying the militant cargo, Arnulfo Rubio (Kristyan Ferrer), his plan is disrupted by his young friend and he ends up being kidnapped by the young driver, who is the main gun runner. As Arnulfo isn't a trained murderer, he takes him to his uncles house, who has bad intentions for Hank, which leads to a showdown which really wasn't that impressive. I won't say anymore about the plot because it will spoil it for people who haven't watched it, not that your really missing anything. The ending was also really disappointing, mainly because there wasn't much closure to the whole film but on the plus side, it's not that long and Roth and Ferrer put in decent performance. I personally was left feeling empty when the film had finished and I doubt that I would watch it again. Disappointing!Round-Up: This is the first movie written and directed by Gabriel Ripstein, who had a decent concept but it just wasn't put together that well. Some of the camera work was pretty amateur and I would have liked to have seen the aftermath of such a dangerous situation. There is a hint of intensity throughout the movie, mainly because the main gun smugglers looked so deadly but apart from that, I did lose interest after a while. I recommend this movie to people who are into their drama/thrillers starring Tim Roth, Kristyan Ferrer, Craig Hensley, Monica Del Carmen, Harris Kendall, Greg Lutz and Harrison Thomas. 2/10
... View MoreI saw this film at the Minneapolis St. Paul international film festival and I have to say even though it was tense, I thoroughly enjoyed it. This is a though-provoking film that makes you take a deeper look at gun control and tensions between the US and Mexico.I love Tim Roth, and think he does an excellent job in this slower paced drama. This is definitely not an action packed film, and the dramatic tension is led up to over the course of the film. Tim Roth's character does an excellent job bringing an understated but poignant performance.While I don't agree with some parts of the film, I found that it laid out the complexities of this issue in a very human way. This film is definitely packed with tension and emotion as we are taken through not just a journey of guns and drug cartels but of human character.
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