Ana

Other people have described the story enough if you decide to watch it. It'll be more enoyable if you know less about it. I'll just say this: there are a few minor plots hole, and some of the scenes aren't that well thought out, but overall it's a fun film, very intellegent and enjoyable. And it's well made and acted. I think I'll watch it again at the weekend when my girlfriend is around.

Rafa Rodriguez (Andy Garcia) runs a struggling used car lot in post-storm Puerto Rico. He finds Ana (Dafne Keen) had broken into one of his cars. With her mother in prison, Ana is alone. His cars get repo and he makes a bad bet. He needs to pay in 5 days. As he grows frustrated, he tries to leave Ana with Pastor Helen (Jeanne Tripplehorn).

I love the two leads and I love the locations. I'm eager to go on a road trip with them. I'm going with this movie until the car gets stolen. It would have been fun for them to steal it back. That's the best move. Then there is the church. I like her wheeling down the aisle. That's a fun scene but the repeated showings don't make sense. Wouldn't some parishioners keep coming back? And wouldn't those repeat customers notice that it's the same girl every time? There is always a performative aspect to the proceedings but one would expect that such trickery would be called out eventually. The money part is too muddled morally and the movie wraps it all up too neatly with a bow in the closing text. It's unsatisfying. I still like the chemistry between Garcia and the girl. I like the church much less.

There are some very bad movies out there and Ana or "The Guardian" is not one of them. The story is slight and the running time feels about 20 minutes over. It's not quite a comedy. The humour is spare and dark, playing more like drama for the most part with elements of South American magical realism.

Dafne Keen and Andy Garcia are cast perfectly, with an on-screen chemistry and individual performances that's are a real joy to watch. Garcia is perfectly sad, understated and beaten, while Keen is a chaotic bundle of innocence and guile. The movie rollicks along when the two of them are together in the same space (and begins to drag a little when they are not). The cinematography and shots of Puerto Rico are beautiful, from the broken slums to the lush jungle. There are several strands competing but this is, at heart, a road movie of sorts. At its best, it reminded me of Paper Moon.

This is so much more than a "5".

Pay no attention to the detractors of this visual dose of morality in a world that destroys not elevates good humans. This gem of a film will share its world and humanity like no other I've seen in a long time. Andy Garcia portrays a disillusioned car dealer and Ana comes into his life like an escaped angel from heaven's realms...but she's no angel...at least not the two dimensional type. In fact all the characters are complex creatures formed by an unforgiving environment. Here's what you'll enjoy: the real Puerto Rico and its warm tough down and out inhabitants surviving corruption drugs and hurricanes...along with the fakes who have given up on humanity; amazing performances led by by Garcia and Keen; an exploration of the psyche of a child scared of adults but eternally willing to live and help. See this pearl of a film. It's a movie to talk about afterward.

It is a predictable, mostly dull, small road trip movie with the occasional warm fuzzy in which you pretty much know where it's going to end up. But, with its Puerto Rico scenography, little bits of social & political commentary (against the church) and two relatively solid main characters with nice chemistry (Andy Garcia & Dafne Keen) movie is watchable. Garcia as character for me is pretty undeveloped, while the script needs some more ... punch. The second half speeds up a little bit, but introduces a weird subplot, trades realism for quirky (pit scene) and feels less meaningful. That is why at the end of film there was no real emotional resonance. Basically, movie started with the promise of more, but ended with an identity crisis while the execution made it like weekend TV afternoon movie vibe all over it.

Rating: 5+/6-