Por la puerta falsa

I felt that this movie is well made. It is hardcore and in your face about the seriouse issues that it deals with. It doesn't exploit them or make fun. It has humor in the right places, not in the wrong places. The acting is great and the production is good to. Definitely a good movie. ***

OK, the story here is some kind of cliche, but it is shot with style and also shows some good acting performances. It has some parralels with Trainspotting. The soundtrack is fantastic, also the photography. There is a bit of disappointment that such good elements are not used in more remarkable way. This movie really deserved better screenplay. Nonetheless, it is an event to watch. Strongly recommended.

I came out of Broken Vessels feeling like I was 19 again, like nothing mattered except the next rush. The passing cars with their people going home from work, and the rest of the pedestrian surroundings, meant nothing to me. Which is very similar to the two main characters in this movie. This film is a raw, intense trip, shot all over the gritty side of L.A. I grew up here, and the film is true to the city, at least this perspective of it. The major flaw in Broken Vessels is that there was no universal theme, no message it delivered. The movie didn't seem to be *about* anything other than its own story. But the visual and emotional experience I got while viewing the film, in large part due to excellent directing by Scott Ziehl and acting by Todd Field, was well worth the price of admission.

"Broken Vessels" tells of a rookie EMT who teams up with an experienced and opportunistic partner who makes his own rules of how to paramedic in the streets of Los Angeles. A journeyman film at best, "BV" is not so much a story as it is a low credibility exposition of the more unusual and peculiar situations paramedics might encounter. Works better as an action flick than a drama.

In my job as a guitar teacher, I come in contact with many kids who are at the place in their lives where they are very impressionable and often have a glamorized view of drug use. I have shown this movie to several kids as an example of how drug abuse can get out of control in a hurry and ruin lives. I point out that the main character, Tom, had no intention of becoming an addict, but before he knew it, he had become one, and it was a short ride to hell from there. This movie makes this point without seeming like a health class documentary. The kids I've shown it too seemed to get the message. I give this movie a high rating, if for no other reason, because it helps me to possibly save the kids from becoming what I myself had once been.