Movies

Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118926/

This taut political thriller set in Latin America marks John Malkovich's explosive directorial debut. Academy Award nominee Javier Bardem (Best Actor, 2000 - Before Night Falls) stars as legit policeman Agustin Rejas, who faces the greatest challenge of his career - to catch the leader of a terrorist movement threatening to collapse his government, while being stopped at every turn by his own corrupt supervisors. As the fight becomes more ferocious, Rejas' search brings him ever closer to the guerilla leader. But when, amidst the chaos, he falls in love with his daughter's ballet teacher (Laura Morante), Rejas must choose between his heart, his country, and his own well-being.

Javier Bardem is Agustin Rejas, the man who stopped practicing law -- because it was too corrupt -- to become a police officer in Latin America. He is the hard-working, by-the-book cop who is chosen to lead the investigation for a ghost -- a man going by "Ezekial" is leading a revolution throughout the country, but he leaves no trace. The synopsis provided with the DVD mentions a love interest Rejas takes in his daughter's ballet teacher, which is true, but it is not the steamy romance you might deduce (from the title?). Whenever I read a storyline and see it cut to "he falls in love with," I am immediately afraid that the plot will suffer for it. I was worried for no reason this time. The relationship is thrown together rather quickly, but it serves a purpose so I hardly took notice, beyond it maybe suggesting that we are all a little corrupt.

My only complaint was the lack of development. Two things I would have enjoyed further depth were his relationship with his wife and why he craved this ballet teacher and why conditions were so bad in the country that a revolutionary leader could become such a hero to the people. Neither elaboration, however, was ultimately necessary to the story.

I really liked this movie. I have not enjoyed a low-budget thriller like this in quite a while; one that is successful for its story and not its big names nor its hollywood flare. And while they are not all that similar, you may enjoy this movie if you liked The Motorcycle Diaries.

Some scenes were pretty graphic, which leads me to reiterate the disclaimer I made for another film: In my experience it is very difficult to separate a movie from it's graphic elements. So please be aware, if not cautious, of those elements in this movie. In other words, I speak highly of this movie, but it is not for everyone.

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