Adios Vaya Con Dios

"Are you ready!" The young gangster Bones, played by Emmanuel Isaac, who lives and dies Olmec gang banger philosophies, yells to his Santa Muerte face painted crew before he puts the hit on Eloy Rosales, played by Albertho Garcia. It's a retribution killing after Eloy stomped to death Tiger De'Leon, played by European actor Marius Iliescu, the merciless sexual predator.

All the actors in the film have their moments and have memorable one-liners, courtesy of lead actor and screenplay writer Zachary Laoutides who plays Rory King a half Mexican and white Olmec gang member trying to navigate his way out of a life of criminality. Laoutides invests all his larger then life characters inside an urban odyssey, they are individual social adventures getting us closer to Rory's goal of leaving town, but in actuality they push him further from his goal.

The subtle performances that seem to analyze and survive every situation they're in belong to Laoutides and Garcia, best friends for life and a bond that forces Rory to treat Eloy with special gloves resulting in them becoming deep into misfortune with the Olmec Jefe's, aka the bosses. From the opening of the movie the scene unseals intensity from Rory and Eloy and the ending closes the film with the same nerve-wracking sentiment from these two fine performances.

We trail lead nominated actor and writer Zachary Laoutides, Rory King, over his journey to bounce town only to have his friend Eloy get released from prison, flinging his strategies of getaway to the wind. Zachary Laoutides gives a nearly silent performance at times; we see his distress walking through the dangerous streets concluded by his despondent face. I speculated why his performance was reserved, but it makes sense, as urban cities tend to become the recluse havens where gangs become ones voice. Rory King being half Mexican with an Irish last name adds to his trauma.

Marius Iliescu playing the Olmec gang leader Tiger as well as his young brother, Bones, played my Emmanuel Isaac show the insanity of gang allegiances. Something Rory King is trying to escape. The movie is shot artistically, from Timothy J. Aguado's swapping from black and white, to his raw shots of Rory's burning off his tattoos. The film impressions are dated belonging in the late 70's or early 80's, a foreign grouping with Spanish narration throughout the movie. To his acclaim Zachary Laoutides' writing keeps a rapidity that never gets dull moving us artistically from one scene to the next by way of music video mixtures, to serious situations with very serious repercussions.

The film seems to hint another chapter, which may be the methodology of what Zachary Laoutides is trying to achieve, the survival rate for the main characters appear at good odds, their larger then life one-liners and intricate development look like they can stick around for yet another phase.

If you think you're getting guns and action you're completely in for a surprise. I didn't expect a film carved out with such an artistic hint. Actor and writer Zachary Laoutides does something very different then just your classic gangster film. Adios Vaya Con Dios may have not reached it's full potential due to limitations, but creatively Zachary Laoutides with his talented art designer, Alfredo Kaos Leon who created the skeletorian makeup add depth into the lackluster films that Hollywood has been creating that trust in formulations.

There is something different at work here, one in the stylishness of how the film is shot by Timothy J. Aguado, the rock music, the transitions from scenes introducing us with montage setups, as Olmec gang leader Tiger De'Leon puts it, "This isn't your hood," and I'm glad it's not the typical Hollywood hood instead we are getting something intellectual and imaginative.

It may disappoint some, who are awaiting gang warfare to erupt on the tough Chicago streets, but Zachary Laoutides stays authentic and truthful to the storytelling and budget he had.

I don't think we can demand a more creative script and film from the ingredients we see recycled in Hollywood every year. Writer and actor Zachary Laoutides teams up with Executive Producer Monica Esmeralda Leon using her tough neighborhood not only to setup the locations for the movie, but also integrating all walks of life from inside the neighborhoods metamorphosis-iring them into actors and actresses. It's not only the reality of using the human materials from the streets, but the studio Ave Fenix Pictures borrowing real stories that have become legend to the locals while using an art house film approach.

At times the film recalls a European Spaniard sense of cinema, having a stable Spanish narrator giving extra facts and storyline as the movie travels forward. The cinema looks aged, dark, raw and at times grainy moving us into the next episodic quest Rory must attend to. The movie is scored by European ambient psychedelic rock by United Kingdom musicians Liam Williams and Joel Goldbreg. Mexican pop start Gaston Sanchez joins in with alternative beats that give us classic Sylvester Stallone montages.

Adios Vaya Con Dios Bel-Air Film Festivals Official Selection racking up several nominations is a work of art, is a work of the tragedy and beauty of where one grows up. Too bad Adios Vaya Con Dios didn't embark on the art house film festivals circuit, as I believe they would have quadrupled awards and nominations constructing a nonpareil film not observed before.

What I appreciated most about Adios Vaya Con Dios was the careful attention to the details with the ensemble of criminals in the film. The movie plays like an artistic documentary following Rory King, played by writer Zachary Laoutides in a typical week inside the Chicago neighborhoods. The story takes an authentic approach and achieves what it set out to accomplish, to make us feel we are always in journey with Rory. At times it's fun being a fly on the wall, being intrigued by the details of crime and the intricate characters Laoutides creates.

Gio Angeli, played by Joseph Mennella, one the few Italians left in the neighborhood that desperately tries to hold grips on a fading dynasty, efforts to flex his muscles while his father is locked up in Jail. Rory's cousin Maurice, played by Michael Hammond, a police officer who is racially mixed like himself, whose corruption runs deep not from his Mexican roots, rather his Irish family. These are just a few of the diverse casts that makes Adios Vaya Con Dios a smart film demanding we pay close attention from the opening scene where Spanish Narration gives us extra intelligence on what Rory King is contemplating as he strains to figure out his exit strategy.

Although we may sense the film can be overly artistic at stretches you need to applaud the artistic choices as the film takes the genre of urban, gangster and Latino and in its place prepares the experience as organic and alternative. It's a dish that works and a tale worth revisiting if the story of an Irish Mexican finds his way back again into the callous mean streets.