Todo por la pasta

A very entertaining film,with action,suspense and a hint of comedy.

This film has almost everything a crime movie has to offer.A perfect armed robbery,which follows in a double murder and betrayal.An investigation let loose on itself,police corruption at its highest,and a look at Bilbao`s lowest and most dangerous estates.

Its a Spanish delinquency movie of the 70`s and 80`s mixed with a modern American detectives movie,but maybe more realistic than the Americans!

Actor Antonio Resines in one of his best roles ever.

A must see.

Well, maybe not quite, but certainly sinister, maccabre, black: down in the lower suburbs of Bilbao, the streets are teeming.

American-styled gutsy cop-thriller, but with that touch which tells you it is Spanish, or even more touch which tells you it is Basque, not forgetting that half the film had Italians working on it, `Todo por la Pasta' might have been something else if it had tried, which it did not, so it is what it is: a rather devilish insight into some rather sinister people doing rather nasty things to get their grubby maulers on a few millions ill-gotten from a bank.

All right for those who like this kind of heavy-handed cop and criminal story which has already been told hundreds of different ways before. The playing is, as expected, pretty good, even Resines is not bad. But it is not a film I would stay up to watch again.

This is an exciting picture with plenty of intrigue , killings , twists and turns . From start to finish action-packed , fast-paced , thrills , emotion and suspense are continued . A casino heist is carried out by a motley band of violent thieves , and one of them to take the loot kills his colleagues . Azucena (Maria Barranco) , the fiancee of one of the robbers , decides to seize the money for herself . On the run she stumbles upon Verónica (Kiti Manver) , the manager of an asylum who wishes to enrichment herself too . Along the way they stumble across some very strange roles and everybody wishes to take the cash at whatever cost , including executing grisly murders . Meanwhile , the Police investigation uncovers dirty maneuvers of others cops who also want to take the cash or pasta and they won't stop at nothing to get it . A cualquier precio, costase lo que costase... (Anyway, at any cost...) . Una película salvajemente cínica (A savagely cynical film)

A moving thriller with noisy action , disorder , mayhem , chaos , plot twists and loads of nonsense violence . As a hold-up about forty-eight million pesetas robbed from a bingo parlor erupts a series of murders and violence set against the backdrop of the blood-soaked Basque country , showing Bilbao city underground in the early 90s. The thrilling search for the loot will tangle up a misfit group of corrupt roles until an ultra-violent and really bloody final highlight . This is the sort of story we've seen many times before -ambitious delinquents and corrupt polices- but it is always fun when is executed with style and Urbizu certainly seems to have that . The cast gets passable performances though their characters have not much deepness to enrich the flick , as they're only led for greed and ambition. This film grabs our attention , beginning with a trilling heist and finishing in extremely brutal shootings and astonishing crimes at the climax. As the real protagonists are Maria Barranco and Kiti Manver providing acceptable interpretations . The main amusement of the movie turns out to be to discover the long list of familiar faces playing the varied group of secondaries , such as : Pedro Díez del Corral , Pilar Bardem , Ramón Barea , Caco Senante , Pep Oliva , Saturnino García , Felipe García Vélez , Álex Angulo , Maite Blasco, Klara Badiola , Chete Lera , Txema Blasco, and the usual and always sympathetic Luis Ciges ."Anything for the Dough" or ¨Anything for the bread¨ international title, results to be really incorrect , that's why ¨Dough¨is badly titled and ¨Pasta¨in spanish language is a slang of the word "cash or dinero", neither dough, nor bread .

It packs a colorful photography with juicy atmosphere by Carles Gusi (Torrente , Box 507 , El Niño , Cell 211), deemed to be one of the best Spanish cameramen . He displays an appropriate cinematography and photographs adequately the exteriors and interiors , being shot on location in Bilbao, showing ordinary sightseeing from the town . Moving and stirring musical score by the early deceased Bernardo Bonezzi . The motion picture was professionally directed by Enrique Urbizu who has won various Goya awards . In fact ¨Todo por la Pasta¨ won : Goya Awards 1992 Winner Goya Best Supporting Actress : Kiti Mánver , Nominee Goya Best Original Screenplay : Luis Marías , Best Original Score : Bernardo Bonezzi , Best Special Effects : Kit West . Director/writer Enrique Urbizu is a specialist on Thriller as proved in ¨Todo Por la Pasta¨, ¨Cachito¨ , ¨Caja 507¨ , ¨La Vida mancha¨¨and on comedy , such as : ¨Cuernos Mujer¨, ¨Como Ser Infeliz¨ and ¨Tu Novia Esta Loca¨ but especially Urbizu is the director of No Peace For The Wicked (No Habra Paz Para Los Malvados), an upcoming 'tough cop with big gun' movie coming out of Spain , this is his best film surpassing even "La Caja 507" and usually played by his fetish actor , Jose Coronado .

TODO POR LA PASTA is a dark, brutal and highly enjoyable crime movie really surprising if you consider what had been done until then with the crime genre in spanish cinema (some semi-amateurish attempts like PERROS CALLEJEROS).

It's a successful mix between the usual american thrillers like the DIRTY HARRY films and something purely spanish that can be seen in some of the characters and performances: the blind man (Ramón Barea), the old and insane man (Luis Ciges) or the weird family of the evil cop (Pepo Oliva): a genuine sense of humor that enriches the film and gives it originality.

Maria Barranco shines in the lead role and there's also a wonderful job from the supporting characters, from Kiti Manver (who won a well-deserved Goya award for her performance) to Pilar Bardem (Javier's mother) and more brief appearances of Saturnino García or Caco Senante in addition of those mentioned above (Barea, Ciges and Oliva).

However, is the brutal cop portrayed wonderfully by Antonio Resines who steals the show. If there's still a doubt that Resines is one of the greatest spanish actors working today, well, here's the proof...