The Padre

Final scenes. I found the rationale of the need to take that which was sacred an affront regardless of the use it was made - I saw no remorse and that was key as to why the plot would have been better served by a promise to restore what was taken.

In this solid road movie, we follow two mismatched pairs on the road in Colombia. Conman Tim Roth can't get loose from young Valeria Henriquez, who wants to get to the US to find her younger sister, adopted to Minnesota. Chasing Roth is hard man Nick Nolte, bent on revenge, who is reluctantly assisted by Luis Guzman. The acting is all excellent, and it is especially nice to see the funny side of Guzman, who is too often wasted in one-dimensional gangster roles.

A con artist is hiding from a retired U.S. Marshall in Colombia (where this was filmed), and accidentally enlists the support of a supposedly 16 yr old female petty con contriver to escape from his pursuers. First, the acting by our two on-the-run contrivers made this an enjoyable escape film. Second, the setting of towns, bazaars, churches, scenery also was culturally interesting to see from a seldom viewed Colombian environs. Helping was the mostly always solid in film Canadian production crew. Plot was pretty predictable, and at times a bit thin in substance was the only drawdown.

Director Jonathan Sobol nailed this film with exceptional directing, as was the screenplay and cinematography. The scenic photography stills were great for showing the landscape, but I feel the images were too lengthy and some unnecessary that added to the somewhat slowly paced 98 min length of the film. Had the pace been slightly faster and the film edited down to about 80 or so mins, it would had been more suspenseful. The flashbacks where well placed, but should have been a little more detailed.

Tim Roth, Nick Nolte, Luis Guzmán and especially Colombian actress Valeria Henriquez nailed their roles, and I don't think this film could have been cast any better.

This is one of those films that was done so well, you really couldn't decide who to route for, and I found myself going back and forth quite a bit. A great fun film that is well deserving of my 8/10.

Set in Colombia, Tim Roth portrays a pickpocket and conman disguised as a padre, as he tries to escape the pursuing ex-Marshal Nick Nolte, who believes Roth was responsible for the death of his pregnant daughter. Nolte has hired Luis Guzman, a local police officer, to help him in this pursuit and to smooth things over when Nolte disrespects the local populace or their customs. Finally, Valeria Henriquez is quite engaging as the young charmer Lena, who is desperate to join her sister in Minnesota (sold online to a family when they were both in a church orphanage) and will even team up with the "padre" to get there.

With this good cast and storyline I guess I expected more from this movie, but it lacked dramatic tension and suspense and came across as too flat-toned. Overall, it just never seemed to gel into anything substantial, as I see it.