Usurpateur

Viggo Mortensen stars in a film about a man who switches places with his brother. That was all this reviewer knew about this film before seeing it. That was enough to know, to choose to go, and see it.

Film is rated 15 in the UK, it is a Fox film, Argentinian, set in Argentina, and it is in Spanish with English subtitles.

Film opens with Viggo Mortensen living in a rural setting by the river. His life is hard and harsh. By contrast his brother seems to have a charmed life. They are twins. However this film is not 'Twins'. No mismatched brothers like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Danny DeVito. No laughs either. This is not a comedy, but rather a grim crime drama, with some social comment, and a touch of philosophy.

Both twins, both played by Viggo Mortensen, in reality do not have great lives. One is unwell and living in a shack by the river, the other is unhappy with his family life. They meet and a chance to swap places arises. The scenes after the switch are shown from the point of view of the impostor. Like him we know very little and thus always wonder if the act has succeeded or has been suspected.

The acting by Viggo Mortensen is superb, he really convinces in his roles and the two brothers act together in a believable way. The way that Viggo Mortensen acts, is a perfect example of a person acting, as someone, who is acting, as someone different, than he is in reality. Of course this must really be second nature for Viggo Mortensen. The first time this reviewer saw him was as 'The stand-up guy' Lalin in 'Carlito's Way'. The second time was in 'A History of Violence'. So this is familiar territory.

Familiar too, is the backdrop. Like the recent 'Mud', much of this film is set on the river. However whereas 'Mud' was a story about two boys starting on the road to manhood, this film is about men who were once boys. Whereas 'Mud' was lovingly filmed to show honest hardworking families living off the river, this film is very much a more grim mirror-image of that. 'Mud' was a 12A, whereas this much grittier film, is a 15. As the river dominates the film, we see much to-ing and fro-ing in little motor boats. The weather is not nice. 'Promised Land' seemed to be shot in a cool off-season, rather than cool this seems positively cold. No false Spring here.

The movie was filmed well, the scenes with the two brothers seemed real and believable, and as said earlier, the two brothers seemed to interact well together. A lot of films recently, seem to have an awful lot of narration in them, 'Byzantium' is a perfect example of this. By contrast, this film has none of this, none is needed. A memory from the past is used in a subtle way to tell you all you need to know.

While praise is due to Viggo Mortensen for his acting, (he also produced), tribute is also due to the rest of the cast. The two females, one playing a girlfriend and the other a betrayed wife, gave excellent performances. The actor playing the childhood friend, gives a powerhouse performance, which dominates, in every scene he is in.

There is a 'Touch of Evil' about this film, as well as 'A History of Violence', mostly though this film has a river-theme like 'Mud', which makes them very similar. An interesting quirk of fate has caused two river-themed films to have come out around the same time. Or are we seeing the emergence of a Tales of the Riverbank genre? This is as good as 'Mud', though a little more adult. If you liked that river film, or 'A History of Violence', you will like this. 10/10.

Being an Argentinian, of course I ran to the movies to see Viggo Mortensen in a local movie. I have to admit that I didn't even know what the plot was going to be about, so I was open to anything.

Although I use to hate the way argentinians act (it's like acting, here in Argentina, is not about performing fiction in a believable way but something else...), during the movie I found hilarious that Viggo, despite his slightly weird accent, was acting way more natural and believable than almost everyone else. Don't ask me why, I just feel proud of him. He rocks. Soledad Villamil and Daniel Fanego were OK, but Sofia Gala's performance was quite poor.

Besides the acting, I think the main ideas of the screenplay weren't well developed and got lost in a slow movie. It's a shame, because the storyline could have been something much much better, actually worthy of a decent cast and production.

So... I give it a six just because Viggo Mortensen's performance was amazing, but overall, it's a slow movie that could have been great, but just isn't, and that leaves you disappointed.

I wasn't expecting much out of this film because of the user ratings. But oh boy I was wrong! I still do not understand those that rated the movie so low. Viggo Mortensen does an amazing job- the movie is mesmerizing and grim. The shots are amazing; excellent photography and attention to the detail. The story line is also very original. The setting in the delta region of Argentina adds to the "mystic" aspect of the story and it's the perfect setting for such a film- making you feel almost uncomfortable at times. I really enjoyed watching it. Yes, it's slow paced, but I think it is on purpose, since it adds tension to and suspense at the same time. Very enjoyable if you like good cinema.

(2013) Everybody Has A Plan/ Todos tenemos un plan (In Spanish with English subtitles) CRIME DRAMA

The movie starts with a blatant ransom, kidnapping gone wrong on some impoverished swamp island area, involving the owner of a small convenience store called "El Dorado" where Adrián's mentally challenged godson, Rubén (Javier Godino) is unable to keep the captor's blindfold on, forcing Adrián (Daniel Fanego) to shoot the captive dead instead of letting him go alive since the captive can easily identify them to authorities. Pedro (Viggo Mortensen) was also there, but was only a witness to the whole incident since the guy that doing the kidnapping and the killings are friends of his, who also makes a living selling honey. The movie then jumps to the city, and this time viewers are seeing a "different" kind of Viggo Mortensen character, and this time he appears to be a family physician of some sort, except that his wife, Claudia(Soledad Villamil) expected him to help her adopt a child which he's not too enthusiastic about. And it appears that he is also not the same person viewers saw earlier either for his name is Agustín and he happens to be a twin, as Pedro appears right at his doorstep since he finds out he is dying, filling him to what's been happening to him as of late. Because Agustin's wife had just separated from him, she's also planning to sell the apartment they were living in. And it is then the movie dwells on circumstances that could've worked had this film been shorter, but to viewers it's all been done before and better. I also find it convenient that once the police stopped looking for suspected murderer, Adrien that he would plan another ransom kidnapping ransom, again around the same area. Like there's no "wanted" poster signs anywhere. Like what are the odds of that happening, otherwise both the police as well as the open public in this movie are viewed as incompetent. Normally, wanted suspected felons go from state to state or city to city- they don't hang around on one area just because they can be caught.

I'm ashamed of this movie cause I'm from this country. This movie is really bad. I feel sorry for Viggo cause he is an excellent actor. I only put 6 'cause of him