4x4

Petty criminal Ciro (Peter Lazani) while walking through a neighborhood in Buenos Aires sees an SUV that catches his interest and breaks into it in order to steal anything valuable. However, Ciro's seemingly easy mark turns into a nightmare as he becomes unable to exit the car once in it and none of the pedestrians can see or hear him as the car is sound proofed with polarized windows nor can he force an escape as the car is fitting with bulletproof glass. As he deals with dehydration, hunger, and isolation, the car's owner Enrique Ferrari (Dady Brieva) revels sadistically in Ciro's suffering.

4x4 is an Argentinian crime thriller directed by Mariano Cohn who co-wrote the film with his producer and collaborator Gastón Duprat. The film is inspired by a news story in which a car thief became trapped inside the car he was trying to steal with Cohn and Dupart crafting a premise from the story that they believed could speak to issues in Argentina involving insecurity and property crimes within the country as well as wealth disparity with the two also soliciting input from people not affiliated with film production in order to craft the film's approach to the discourse of the subject matter while lead actor Peter Lazani studied the performances of Ryan Reynolds and Colin Farrell in Buried and Phone Booth respectively to approach the central performance which would mostly be a one man show. 4X4 is an ambitious film with high concept premise that has a lot on its mind, even if I feel like it stretches itself in order to achieve the ends it seeks.

The movie does a solid job of introducing its contained premise as for the most part the first half-hour or so is mostly silent as Ciro slips into the luxury 4x4 in order to steal its stereo. While the film wears its commentary about wealth disparity and property crimes in Argentina on its sleeve, it is effectively done even if it does make Ciro hard to sympathize with particularly as he attempts to add insult to inury by urinating in the car after stealing the stereo before learning he's trapped in it. Peter Lazani gives a good central performance as Ciro and while he is playing a pretty reprehensible character (down to the fact the movie reveals he has killed people in past crimes) he does add some humanity to the performance that keeps the limited location story engaging. There are some contrivances in the film like Ciro's phone running out of batteries or a lengthy dream sequence in the film that felt like a massive culdesac (it felt like it was trying to emulate the movie 1408, but there was actually a reason for it there that's missing here) and third act feels like it makes the commentary a little too heavy handled in a very public spectacle that culminates in a very rushed epilogue that in theory should be fine but in practice doesn't arrange the pieces in a satisfying whole.

4x4 is certainly a movie that using a limited budget and location for big performances and ideas even if I feel those ideas could've done with a bit more polish. While I did like the film better than Buried (at least by way of not having a nihilistic ending) I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as Phone Booth or 1408. 4x4 is nonetheless a decent small scale thriller that's worth a one time rental provided you're willing to indulge some rough spots and stumbles.

I think this movie is extremely underrated. It has a very interesting start and it keeps your full attention in the first hour. It gets a little common and dissappointing in the end, but it's still worth watching. It seems like writer didn't know how to fully develop a great idea, so he just half-succeeded. It is still a success, though.

As much as I avoid having to read subtitles, I'm a sucker for a film set in one venue with one or 2 actors. It's a hard stunt to pull off for both director and actor. Which is why films like Cast Away, Open Water, Buried, and Wait Until Dark are so compelling. This one does a good job for about 3/4 of the film. Peter Lanzani gives a stellar performance. Then it seems to fall flat in its attempt to point out that only a crazy person would take a car trap to such extremes. The trap is not a new trick; however, it is illegal. Although well-done, it does seem a bit drawn out for what it is. The whole scene in the street could have been shortened by 10 minutes. On the other hand, if it were more intriguing it could have gone longer. But once the Dr. Arrives at the vehicle and the long ending begins, it felt like a different film.

I would've given this movie a 10 because it's original and held my attention. But, the ending just lacked that feeling of satisfaction.

After having seen the trailer, Initially I was wondering as to how could the story al inside the car could last for 90 minutes, but it's amazingly well done plus there is story outside the SUV as well. Commendable performances by all, good script keeps the movie interesting throughout.