Living in the USA I am daily subjected to a negative view of Mexico and its people, whom certain Americans feel should keep quiet, stay in Mexico and do as they are told (by good old Uncle Sam); therefore, it is a pleasure to watch a film, which counters this negative stereotype and shows a beautiful country with its own way of life - sometimes good, sometimes bad. The political system may appear corrupt to the American style, but it is theirs and some of them achieve their aims by violence rather than purchasing them. Mexico is not alone in military strong men running the country. I have not seen many Mexican films, "Like Water for chocolate" was probably the first, but I have watched several telenovellas and enjoy seeing the ways and traditions of our next door neighbor. I gave this fine film a 10 as it was excellent, and I hope to see more such films in the future.

"Arráncame la Vida" is a story from the perspective of Catalina Guzmán. At 16 she marries Andrés Ascencio and at 30 becomes his widow. He is a political machine always looking to rise within the ranks of politics the way he did in the military ranks during the Mexican Revolution. There were several omissions in the movie. Honestly, I believe that this is why the movie fell flat in a lot of ways, at least for me. I never thought I would be one of those people who says it wasn't as good as the book but it really was not as good as the book.In the book, you begin to like Andrés for various reasons as you continue reading because, even though he had moments of misogyny and murder, he was teaching her how life works and how people can be. He was teaching her to defend herself and survive all the Bull that people shovel your way especially when they see you alone and "vulnerable". After a while you really don't find Catalina all that charming. For a grown woman, she behaved very immaturely. It seemed as though throwing temper tantrums were her forté. When he does die, he does point out that he hurt her and he does it in a very direct way. They made light of that in the movie but it wasn't a light moment in the book. He also does not tell her he left her everything until he calls in the attorneys and changes his will in front of her. He says he leaves her everything of his own accord in front of witnesses, so that no one can contest the will. She is peeved because now she has to determine how things get distributed. The thing with the tea was open ended in the book because you don't know if she killed him or if he became addicted to the tea. According to the book, if you drank it in large amounts it could kill you. He was drinking it every day in large amounts in the book. She lets him know before he drinks the last of the tea that it would be best if he not have anymore but he insists. Reverse psychology? maybe.The other thing that they left out was the lesbian scene that Catalina has with Andrea Palma.Then the funeral. It was in the home during the wake that Rodolfo comes at her with offering to help her with the will. She tells him to stay out of it because she has it under control and does not need his help. He does not respond because he doesn't know how. He goes over to the casket and pretends to look heartbroken but the boredom sets in. Then there was also Rodolfo's desire for Catalina. She remembers when his fat ass chased her in a red dress Andrés had bought her in NY and she threatens Rodolfo with telling Andrés about his behavior. Rodolfo was interested in exploiting Andres's death to get into Catalina's pants and gain access to the fortune Andrés had amassed. He didn't think she was very smart or that she was a quality woman the way they inferred in the movie. The movie did not show Doña Herminia either. It also did not fully explain the story concerning his first wife. The movie did also not talk about Virginia. There was more to it than was inferred in the movie. The other thing was that he was going to be buried in Zacatlán. In the book it was raining which is significant. If you are going to watch this movie read the book afterward. I think you will enjoy the book more than the movie.

I read Angeles Mastreta's book when it first came out and I just loved it. She's written some more afterwards, but I never really liked them as I enjoyed "Arrancame la vida". When I knew that a movie about this story was going to be done I read the book again, and to be honest I went to see the movie with the intention of reinforce that "stories are always better read in books, than depicted in movies". Well I was wrong. To my agreeable surprise I enjoyed every minute of it, just as much as I did reading the book for the first time. You easily digest a witty yet sarcastic story, picturing a post revolutionary country society that grabs you from the very first second. All the charactersare very well pictured and the scenery is just perfect. Thank you for this kind of Mexican cinema: enjoyable, brilliant and proudly capable of the quality to be appreciated by any kind of audience of the world.

This movie may contain some strong scenes, but it is a good screenplay that becomes great by the excellent performance of Daniel Gimenez Cacho. Ana Claudia Talancon makes a good performance look even better by her beauty. But unfortunately not all actors in this movie are good, I'm talking of the horrible work that Jose Maria de Tavira does in this movie, its a bad acting work but it looks like garbage compared to his coworker Gimenez Cacho. The screenplay its a great adaptation of the books written by Angeles Mastretta, this screenplay was done by the author of the book and the director, Roberto Sneider. The movie takes a theme that reminds you of La Ley de Herodes, so it portrays the old fashion politicians in Mexico, which still exist. The directors work is a good work which makes you try to remember his name, i personally hadn't seen any of his previews works but now that I've seen this one I'm sure gonna see his next work, he directed Dos Crimenes with Pedro Armendariz Jr. and Damian Alcazar. The movie is worth seeing and you enjoy it a great deal thanks to the acting of Gimenez Cacho, i hope to see more lead roles from him. So i hope you enjoy this one, and it has been already released so i don't know why it is shown as in production still.