lennyloon

I saw this at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The two main characters are brothers and polar opposites in terms of the roles they have. One being fun, jokey laughable while the other is more gritty, serious and intense. Depending on who was on screen, the story weaved from pleasing comedy to suspenseful drama. The movie is based around the 2 brothers being plucked from banana plantation obscurity into footballing limelight but this is by no means a movie about football. It's more about the the brothers yearning for fame and fortune and their determination to provide better lives for their loved ones. The directors and actors were present at the screening and asked the audience to watch this "not as a foreign movie but simply as a movie." With that in mind, don't go to see this looking for strong statement about Mexico City, go and see it for the story and acting itself.

I've never been a fan of Christian Slater although I've never been a detractor either. This movie turned any opinion I had of him on its head. A well scripted film, beautifully acted (By Slater, Macy and Cuthbert) from start to finish. Slater is a desperate man ready to go to ultimate lengths to right a world he sees as wrong. As can be seen in the trailer, he's beaten to the punch and inadvertently becomes a hero. It's at this point that the film begins in earnest. It doesn't try and get too clever as some movies tend do with a story of this ilk (sometimes to the detriment of the movie). The story was strong enough to carry me all the way through to the end. Buy it, go see it, rent it.