600 Millas

600 miles at 85 minutes is a relatively short feature, but in terms of screenplay and storyline, it actually seems padded out at that length. Truth to tell, though long on distance according to the title, the movie is brief on story. There's plenty of footage of people travelling in darkly lit vehicles, not saying a lot or saying nothing at all. Consider Tim Roth's Hank Harris ATF officer is really only in about the last hour of the film (at most). It takes close to 30 minutes to set things up, before he arrives on the scene and even then, there hasn't been a lot happening. I'm still not sure what the film is trying to say. That gun-running for cartels is dangerous and sucks in too many young Mexicans seeking the fast road out of poverty. Well, we probably already knew that.

The first act involved Arnulfo's American associate walking in and out of several gun shops, whilst looking at guns and talking to staff. Director Gabriel Ripstein doesn't mind repeating himself, but I'm still a little vague at what he was messaging. Suffice to say we get to the denouement relatively quickly, but that all ends up being somewhat ill-defined too. Kind of inevitable I'd suggest, for what really is a pretty half-baked production that somehow managed to get Tim Roth involved. Give me its bigger-budgeted cousin any day of the week.

I liked this movie. It's good for washing you off Hollywood stuff once in a while. The camera behavior differs from the habitual and leaves you pondering and doing your own interpretation in a variety of moments. This different take leaves you in the edge of the couch sometimes! It also shows how easy it is for a stupid young man to buy loads of guns and how easy it is for a young man to choose the wrong path.

Laid back approach to exciting drama that gets where it's going to very slowly and quietly. For the most part though the director keeps us distant from the characters and the action. Unfortunately this limits our involvement.

600 miles starts off with a very Intriguing look into America's gun control policy.

I learned a lot about how and where I can purchase a firearm. Some instances I sincerely hope are being over exaggerated by the film.

The movie really comes to life the moment Tim Roth's character comes into it. It's a slow paced drama, that feeds on his low key and very effective performance, as an ATF officer, very imperfect in doing a very dangerous job.

His relationship with Arnulfo, a weapons smuggler who kidnaps him was fantastic. Every thing was so subtle as these guys barely said but a few words to each other, yet you could see the connection coming between them. Just amazing and effective filmmaking.

I also like how the movie was dubbed in both Spanish and English. Not that you really needed dialog to understand the movie.

It was a small movie that was able to tap into the human emotion and really suck you in with the great performances and excellent film structure.

"600 Miles" or "600 Millas", stars Tim Roth and Kristyan Ferrer, and is the directorial debut of Gabriel Ripstein, who wrote the script for another Tim Roth movie "Chronic" (2015). The film won the Best First Feature Award at the Berlin International Film Festival. The film was met with much hype by critics and audiences but didn't get a big theatrical release.

The film follows the characters of Arnulfo (Ferrer) and Hank (Roth). Arnulfo is a very young man who smuggles weapons across the border to Mexico along with his associate Carson (Harrison Thomas). Arnulfo works for his uncle who is either a member or the leader of the weapon smuggling mob. Hank is an ATF agent who has been tracking down Arnulfo and Carson, knowing that they're buying a lot of guns. One day Hank confronts the two young men and things go South. Hank is kidnapped by Arnulfo and smuggled into Mexico. As the two characters become weary of what they are doing and the situation they are in they must work together to get themselves out of it.

"600 Miles" is a very well crafted film that has very strong performances by the two leads (Roth and Ferrer). The two actors have such good chemistry and it translates beautifully on screen as the characters they play get to know a little more about the other and soon have a complicated relationship. Tim Roth is gold in this movie, he's the best part of this film, in my opinion. Roth gives a very realistic approach to the character he's playing and adds the humanity that this film so dearly needs. Ferrer did very well in the film as well. Ferrer plays a very complicated character in the movie and you never really know what his character's motives are.

The directing in the film was handled very well. The cinematography is good as well, nothing truly spectacular but I did very much like the angles in which they shot the film and the long drawn out takes. The story was very subtle but powerful at the same time, a beautiful combination which I adore very much.

A couple of issues I had with the film was the editing. Certain scenes in the film would have a significant jump in time and leave a very big gap. This didn't bother me that much since it didn't hurt or affect the story but it was definitely noticeable. Certain scenes would just end and the next scene would be hours or days after the last one.

Now I know many people have an issue with the ending of the film, I'll be honest when the film supposedly ended I laughed and asked myself "That's it?". Now I do think that that type of ending was intentional but if you stay through the end credits you'll see what the film was going for.

Overall "600 Miles" is a solid film with great direction, acting, and a tense story. I would recommend it to any Tim Roth fan out there because he gives a very good performance in this film. Hope this review helped you decide whether "600 Miles" is or is not for you.