Testosterone

Hard to think of any other film where the putative good guy and the bad guy are uniformly repugnant. That the setting is Argentina reminds me of that country's major cultural contribution to the world -- the tango. The dance evolved from a musical entertainment for men only in which the participants combined hard-bitten, menacing moves with unmistakeably erotic passion. The soundtrack of this film, including some modern Astor Piazzolla, reinforces an impression genuinely Argentine.

The problem encountered here is one already noted in several comments, namely, that the story is out of focus. A rather preposterous ending compounds the offense. It's really too bad, because otherwise I found myself drawn to the underlying notion of finding resolution to a dramatic theme by moving the scene to some exotic locale. "Flying Down to Buenos Aires," as it were.

Noir and comedy mix well only in the area of satire. One comes away from viewing this apparent attempt to combine the two not with an appreciation of its cleverness, but with a sour taste in one's mouth. In some sense, I got the feeling neither the creators of the film nor possibly some of the actors were altogether thrilled by the script or the characterizations. That's a kiss of death not unlike one might have witnessed at the conclusion of a tango danced in some nineteenth-century Buenos Aires brothel.

I do not know the novel. So , I can not compare with original a dark, decent film about loss, secrets, searches and romance, revenge and roots of succes. Sure, it seems have the sins of low budget films. The story is not always coherent, the actors , their name and their bodies are the main attraction, the story is not the very convincing one but, after its end, this mix of love/ obsession story, film noir attempt seems, for very subjective motives, just decent. The flavor of leaves ash in fall - like is, maybe , the best virtue.

Odd little b-flic. It starts off very bad Laughably bad. Sound, editing, acting, it all fails dramatically. 'So bad it's good'-style, so no complaints there. However, the movie gets better and better with the introductions of new characters. With the exception of Sofia, none of the characters will generate much sympathy from the viewer. But all of them somehow manage to imprint their role with such sardonic egoism, that the ultra thin script is more than forgiven.

So, if you want to indulge yourself in some strangely cool whodunnit story homoerotic style, look no further. Eat your heart out Eric Romer!

Lots of things don't make sense in this film, which irritates. But it's so homo-erotic that a lot can be forgiven. Sonia Braga in full dragon mode, and lots of partially- or fully-naked hunks sucking face. Jennifer Coolidge has the funniest lines in the film, and I love her deadpan delivery in this one. It has the makings of a camp classic, but the premise of the film is irretrievably flawed. Given the final resolution, there is no reason any of the characters would have put themselves and each other through all of this. And the final shot (was that meant to be a twist of some kind?) makes absolutely no sense. Most tragically, no one ended up with the adorable bell-hop! I'd have taken him home in a heartbeat! ;-)

Yes I'll agree this movie is not what I thought it would be but it WAS very interesting. It was much darker and serious than I thought it would be. Jennifer Coolidge was not that great in this. Too small of a part.

But what can I say? Antonio Sabato Jr in full man-on-man kissing? I'm in! He is SOOO hot. To me, it was worth it to see him get naked, even if for too brief a time. I think that gay cinema needs variety. Maybe this film is not a masterpiece. But it is a good, weird mind trip.

I hope this movie gets on to DVD soon. It took forever for it to be released.