4x4

Peter Lanzani (Argentina 1985) stars in this exciting thriller, directed by Mariano Cohn (The Illustrious Citizen), in which he plays a thief who falls into his own trap. A luxury car, an SUV is parked in a neighborhood like many others in Buenos Aires. Ciro, a young thief, goes in to steal, for him it is simply another break-in inside a parked vehicle to get a stereo or any valuable object inside, a simple action with some vandalism, locking something and leaving quickly. Instead, he finds himself trapped inside the car and eventually realizes that there is no way to get out of there. The doors don't respond, neither do the windows, he tries to break them but when he wants to get out he can't, even though he uses all kinds of violent means. The petty thief needs to leave by any means necessary and at that moment he doesn't even care if he will be arrested for it. Then a male voice (Dady Brieva) communicates with him through the radio, that's when reality kicks in. The 4x4 turns out to be like an armored bunker.

This interesting film is about a claustrophobic situation that becomes frustrating, when a petty thief becomes completely locked in a car and the desperation and stress that this causes. The idea is apparently attractive and is concerned with exciting the audience and sometimes leaving the viewer on the edge of their seat, but you can also see the film on a deeper level related to society and how to address security problems in certain areas where Violence and robberies are common, running rampant and while the authorities cannot stop them. The vehicle in this film is a thinly disguised Toyota Fortuner, an SUV based on the popular Toyota Hi-Lux pickup truck. Made in 22 days, the film is based on a real news story that occurred in Brazil about a thief who was trapped in a car while trying to steal it. The key issue beyond the means in which our protagonist tries to escape from the car is how to survive this whole twisted mess. The main issue comes with another aspect that invites some reflection related to what ordinary people do to keep their properties safe. The director throughout the film keeps us trapped with the protagonist inside the car, exploring every inch of it to find a possible exit, slowly suffocating us in the claustrophobic environment from which the film does not emerge for a long time. All of the anxious desperation feels authentic, and even the small changes to his usual appearance worked well to present him as a suburban kid. The film is acceptable but nothing special, because we have already seen these situations of people locked up and using their own limited means on their own several times. This is why we have already seen these twisted incidents in other places, such as in tombs, swimming pools, in a very tall communication tower or telephone booths. In fact, the cult film ¨La Cabina¨ (1972) directed by Antonio Mercero with the great José Luís López Vázquez as the protagonist may be a precedent for this type of plot that has almost become a subgenre. Anyone who wants to revisit this short film can search for it on YouTube, where we can remember it for free. To play Ciro, Lanzani based himself on the claustrophobic performances of Colin Farrell and Ryan Reynolds, in the films "Phone Booth" and "Buried", respectively. The man played in the background is Dady Brieva (who, together with Peter Lanzani and Luis Brandoni as the mediator, are the only three actors involved) explains that after being the victim of many thefts in his numerous cars, he decided to install a powerful system that keeps the man locked up. Intruder with no possibility of escape and no possibility of being seen from the outside.

Co-production between the private Mediapro and Televisión Abierta and public entities: National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA), Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (ICAA). What I don't understand is why the production of state entities when the budget is minimal, a simple car, will logically be to receive the respective subsidy. The film was professionally directed by Mariano Cohn, providing many memorable sequences and solid performances. Cohn even gives himself a self-tribute: on the street he sees a poster for an imaginary sequel to The Man Next Door (2009), which Mariano co-directed with co-writer Gastón Duprat. In fact, Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn are regular collaborators, making some very decent films. They have directed a dozen films, with which they obtained more than thirty international awards, among which The Artist (2008), The Neighbor (2009), The Distinguished Citizen (2016), My Masterpiece (2018) and Official Competition (2020). His great success was "The Illustrious Citizen" (2016) that was the No. 1 box office Argentine comedy of the year, earning Argentina's submission for the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category of the 89th Academy Awards in 2017 and winning several awards and nominations.

What a strange film that begins like a thriller in the line of PHONE GAME, or BURIED and then looks like DOG DAY AFTERNOON or a social drama. Yes, a very strange feature where you actually have two movies for the price of one. I was surprised, not a bad stuff after all. Not bad at all.

Good execution with clear message, someone did wrong thing impact those victims for sure and bring out social issue in Argentina. We revenge for whom doing wrong things but does it mean our revenge justified ? So many level of thinking after watching this movie.

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.

Even though it might seem slow-paced and only-one-scenario-for-all-the-time at first, this film depicts perfectly how fed up society is with criminals and makes you feel enjoyably eager during all the minutes it lasts!

We, ordinary people, just work for a salary, eat, sleep and then do the same. In other words, we live an honest life every single day and in the end, we are no more than preys for robbers lurking around the city; the outlaws of life.

So, what if, just for once, this would be the way around? What if, it was YOU could get justice by your own hand?

Well, this is what this movie takes care of and you are over-hyped all the time!

I loved its suspense OST.

Awesome acting. The protagonists Peter Lanzani and Daddy Brieva will undoubtedly be rewarded.