Dos crímenes

I expect much from Sneider now he's filming "Arrancame la vida". This because "Two crimes" (correct translation of the movie's name) was delicious.

This novel written by the Mexican Jorge Ibargüengoitia and published in 1979 (or before), is a great dark comedy.

Funny and unpredictable, delightful and well acted, the movie presents characters real and familiar to any Mexican. Sneider understands and respect the story, all the twists, the humor, the rhythm and dialogs of the author. By doing so, he succeeds in keeping the viewer's interest through all the movie. Go see it!

Don't pay any attention to the horrible title in English: "Kissing cousins"

This is not a great film but quite pleasant to watch. It requires little effort. A group of relatives decide how they will divide up their sick Uncle Ramon's inheritance when he dies. All goes well until cousin Marcos (a murder suspect) arrives on the scene. They try to buy out his share whatever it happens to be. The whole household is a suspicious-looking lot and when Uncle dies the story becomes a "Who-dunnit?" The culprit is fairly obvious. Poison in drinks, mistaken identity, reading of a will are all old themes we've seen before. The sex scenes in various beds and in the shower are not new either. Despite lack of originality the film has a great look but spoilt perhaps by a melodramatic ending. If there's a message in this film it's this: Always pour your own drink!

This is a pretty empty film. The characters are cardboard (sex objects at best, in a Hollywood sort of way), except perhaps for uncle Ramon who is less of a chiché than the others. Screenplay lacks follow-through and editing. The one redeeming thing about the film would be the sound track, which contains some good Latin American folk songs.

This movie is obviously connected in some way to the 1994 movie "Greedy," with Michael J. Fox. The essential story line is pretty much the same: dying rich family member, blood sucking nephews and nieces want to get a piece of the pie before the old geezer dies. However, there are a few interesting twists in the plot that add a little spice to the movie that "Greedy" obviously misses. Add to this the fact that the actors are of a high caliber...Marcos is a delight to watch, his toothpaste smile charming everybody, and the beautiful Lucarno is enticing. The setting is quasi exotic and the movie is well scripted, adding that sensual touch and the rude language that otherwise used would be merely sex and swearing. The twist in the end is particularly interesting...I won't spoil the plot. Suffice it for me to say that this movie is better than average entertainment value.

The writer Jorge Ibargüengoitia is well known for his highly ironic books, and the "Dos Crimenes" novel is a delight of black humor. If you like Bierce's Devil's Dictionary humor, you'll like also the movie.

That looks like a plain description of provincial greediness at first sight. Nope! the irony is in the details; the police that fabricates a terrorist plot, the hero governed by his hormones, the romantic and/or greedy young girl, the hot respectable mom, the corrupt prosecutor and police inspector and so on.

Nothing happens as planned except for the banker... Excellent satire of the Mexican society.