No habrá paz para los malvados

I was just partially prepared for this gritty thriller, so I am warning you in time to get ready for it to maximize your enjoyment. This is another gut-buster coming to us from sunny Spain, in case you missed it the first one is Mientras Duermes, and this just goes to show you that no matter what Hollywood decides to do to cinema, there will be always other countries to step up. This vibrant noir movie is just too cool, and the reason for that is Santos Trinidad masterfully played by José Coronado. While the American take on your average alcoholic, corrupt and dangerous detective set the standards, Jose took it to another level with his believable acting, right appearance and that crazy look in his eyes is the thing that completes the whole image. These are the guys that you don't wanna see or have anything to do in real life, but secretly fantasize about being them or hanging out with them.

The director did not hold back, and once again we can enjoy in this glass of whiskey that is not watered down or with ice. The taste that this movie leaves is that one of bitterness of life, wrong choices and the those moments of perfect clarity where you can actually feel alive and meaningful. Just beautiful.... And gripping, from the beginning to the end, this movie will hold your attention and let it go just for brief moments that are to be used to light up another cigar or pour another shot of whiskey (well, I guess any alcohol will do). One more thing I found very interesting and that is that upon viewing this movie Sylvester Stallone immediately bought the rights and expressed desire to make an American version (with him in the lead role, no doubt)

Using the actual events of 2004 Madrid train bombings, No Rest for the Wicked further develops this story, from the eyes of one Santos Trinidad. Santos Trinidad is a bad man, a police detective who likes to drink, gamble, misuse his authority and all the fun things that we would do, if, of course, life was a video game. He comes alive at night and as an alcoholic vampire prowls the streets and strip clubs looking for trouble, life and death. One of those visits, will prove to be a very important one as he accidentally stumbles on something much, much bigger than the usual sleaze that you would expect in a nightclub. Not to reveal too much (again, but what can I do when the movie is that good...), I will leave you with this, enjoy this phenomenal movie...

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We begin with a completely pointless and unmotivated massacre. While trying to tie up loose ends in the crime, we watch the cop following people and walking around a lot-not exactly an action-packed thriller. The pacing is nonexistent after the initial paroxysm of violence. A parallel investigation begins to uncover a sinister terrorist plot, that very coincidentally, ties in with the initial mass murder.

There are so many scenes of just watching nothing happen: the cop having a quick cubata in a bar, someone walking through the metro or down a street while the cop tails him. It's these dead areas of the film that sink it. The dialogue in parts is quite good. The scene when Santos in interrogated by the señoría (can't remember the title of the woman investigator) was excellent and showed a lot about his character as a tough guy not at all intimidated by whatever evidence she thinks she has against him.

With just a little bit of doing the writer could have made the initial murders less pointless and more related to the terrorism plot. It would have made a lot more sense, and this could have been an excellent movie.

The claims that this film is somehow racist because it portrays Muslim men as terrorists is simply absurd. The fact that the Spanish father is concerned about the well-being of his daughter who married a Muslim man and now she goes around covered up like a nun isn't some sort of outlandish fiction. It happens all the time. Muslim culture towards the treatment of women goes completely against the values we have fought for in the West.

The bare-bones premise is interesting: a drunk is having a bad night and kills some people in a seedy bar but one witness manages to escape. The rest of the movie involves the killer going after the guy and the police trying to figure out who committed the original crime on scant clues.

But that's not really the film you're watching, because it has plot complications stacked upon backstory stacked upon character introductions stacked on plot complications. It's a police thriller, it's a mafia movie, it's about international intrigue.

In short, this is a meter-high club sandwich of a plot, with the writer trying to cram as many action movie plots into one two-hour film as possible. If you lose your concentration for more than a few minutes you'll get lost and you'll have to start all over again.

That puts a damper on the impact of this work.

Many have praised Coronado's portrayal as the film's lead antihero (Santos), but I wonder how much of that comes down to just casting and costume. The guy just looks like a sleazebag in his black clothes and oily long hair. I'm not quite sure he's the next Anton Chighur who would have made the character believable even with normal clothes and a comic haircut.

For me, the standout performance was the portrayal of the female investigating judge, who came off as both stern and mysterious.

Competently directed and the story was fresh, but the it would have been more interesting had it not been so labirynthine.

Honourable Mentions: Torrente: El Brazo Tonto de la Ley (1998). Let's face it, Santos might be tough and determined, but he's also dumb (yeah, going into bars late at night with a gun and getting extremely drunk when you know you're prone to murderous outburts is dumb), moody, corrupt, and of disheveled appearance, much like Torrente.

It starts with a bloody crime scene that apparently has no motive and no meaning. And then for almost two hours we are watching somebody walking and walking and crawling on the screen. Half an hour into the movie you beg for it to end. Absolutely preposterous and pointless film. If you skip it, you lose nothing but save two hours of your life.

A highly recommended film that fills more than expectations. A film that grabs you from start to finish. It is one of the best noir cinema that has been made in Spain, the kind of film that proves that a small story can be much more meaningful than a larger one. Jose Coronado is superb, cold, wild and credible. The cinematography is stark and bare, with only the soundtrack adding some effect. From an artistic standpoint, there were some plot elements and character developments I didn't think were totally needed. They do however drive the story, which seemed to be their purpose, so I can accept them. Nothing to laugh at. Heartfelt and riveting from the first frame to the last.