Criminales

One question that always pop in my mind whenever Hollywood tries to remake a foreign film that was successful is: Why? In most cases, the end result is disastrous; it never compares with the original movie and why spend money in something that has already been done, better.

The movie in question here is the Argentine surprise film of last year, "9 Queens". In it, Fabian Belinsky, its director, was able to give us an original story, a caper, that was well executed and brilliantly acted; it was a pleasure to watch.

Not to put this movie down, but it suffers in comparison. Gregory Jacobs, the director, has adapted the story to present day Los Angeles and the story hasn't changed at all. The memory of the other movie was still vivid in our minds, so there was no surprise with this one.

The acting is good in general. John C. Reilly makes the con man Richard Gaddis perfectly slimy. Diego Luna brings a nice balance to his role, and Maggie Gillenhaal is excellent as the long suffering sister.

If you haven't seen the original, this version works fine.

Co-produced by George Clooney and director Steven Soderbergh, who both created the wonderful heist movie Ocean's Eleven, which has a very smart plot. Even the writer of Ocean's Eleven gets a special thanks during the end credits. So lots of references to that very smart Ocean's Eleven classic.

This story is very smart as well and you wont see the twists and turns coming. It is not as funny or exciting as Ocean's Eleven though, not by far, because "Criminal" is quite a slowburning, talkative con movie, wherein two small time con artists try to pull of a really big con trick. Will they succeed? That's the cliffhanger.

Great acting performance by John C. Reilly. I really cant think of any movie in which he has ever played below par. This actor is true to life in his acting and he is the one that makes this movie worthwhile watching, with an excellent supporting role by the wonderfully gifted Maggie Gylenhaal as well.

Charming characters, intelligent plot, but it is a slow burning story, so only suited for those who have some patience and appreciate acting performances and the plot above speed or suspense.

Con-man Richard (John C. Reilly) enlists Mexican petty thief Rodrigo (Diego Luna) as his new temporary partner, and soon they are engaged in a huge scam involving counterfeit money, being helped along by Richard's skeptical sister Valerie (Maggie Gyllenhaal).

In 'Criminal' you soon learn not to believe ANYTHING you see! It is an object lesson in distrust, but an engaging and wonderfully entertaining one. Who is going to f... whom over, that's what it is all about. Richard conned his two younger siblings out of their share of the inheritance after their mother, but he whines and bitches at every turn, and he proves himself to be both antisemitic and anti-black. When once again he has tried to cheat his new partner out of his cut, he exclaims, "What's with the raped-virgin look?". Richard is a terrible, terrible person, a thoroughly rotten apple who believes that "F...ing, that's when you're handcuffed on the pavement". Anything short of that he can deal with, squirming like a worm. Of his victims he says, "I don't feel anything for them. They're marks. Some of them are dumber than f ... pets!". John C. Reilly is very good in the part, although I found myself longing for just one other color on the palette, just some surprise, something not too predictable.

He says to Rodrigo, "You got something that money and practice can't buy, you look like a nice guy", and Diego Luna (the 'other' guy from 'And You Mother Too', alongside Gabriel García Bernal) has a puppy-dog appeal that works like a charm. He has genuine, unforced charm and is cuddly at all times.

Obviously, if you have watched 'The Sting' or films like the great French caper 'Les ripoux' ('My New Partner', 1984), 'Criminal' will offer you nothing new or sensational. It does have a really nice feel to it, though, taking its leisurely time to get rolling, enabling us to get to know these people. Or so we think ...

7/10

I saw the film and loved it. The ending totally threw me. As I drove home I had to rethink the entire film. Every assumptions I had while watching it was wrong. It was a total surprize. Diego is soooo naturally talented; I hope the rest of the world discover him eventually. The rest of the cast was great too. I think the critics who didn't like it were wasting their times comparing it frame for frame with the original film. It would have been nice if they reviewed the film for the millions who've never heard of the original rather than for themselves. I have never seen Nine Queens and I'm glad I didn't because I probably would have been doing the same thing and ruined the experience. I didn't have any preconceived expectations and enjoyed it immensely. Can't wait to see what Diego does next.

This first scene of this film contained more action than the rest of this rather tedious, bland remake of a recent Argentine film (which I have not seen.) There was virtually no chemistry between the two leads, Reilly and Luna. Sad sack Reilly, despite a decent performance, was miscast as the professional con man and Gyllenhaal was wasted in a minor role as Reilly's sister. Luna gave the best performance in the film as the young protégé. Scottish actor Peter Mullan played the "mark," a streetsmart "Irish" billionaire whose accent slipped from Scot to Irish every other line! By the time the surprise ending rolled around I didn't care who were the good guys, who were bad guys nor the motivations of either. The screenplay, although illogical and far-fetched, included a few good lines but I don't know if they were translated from the original film or written especially for this remake. Luckily, I saw this film at a screening and didn't have to shell out $10 for a ticket!