O Tango e o Assassino

I love this movie. Beautiful. Thank you. The cast, the scenes, the music, the story, the cinematography. Perfect. Total entertainment. The drama, the comedy, the dance, even the smells. Robert Duvall's name in a picture guarantees great value. I wish to see many more of these superb works from the director and all the actors, and other creators of this film. Here is another example of great American movie making. I also want to say thanks to Sundance to show this piece on TV, unfortunatelly there aren't any movie theaters that would show this and similar movies. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys watching a movie with great acting, nice music, and not the usual boring plot.

I took a shot at buying this DVD sight-unseen, something I rarely do and usually regret, but not in this case. I found it even more fascinating than I hoped, thanks to a totally-unknown actress. Two viewings within a year has not changed my opinion.

This movie is just different, a unique portrait of strange older hit-man and the people in his life. I am not surprised a number of viewers did not like this film, even fans of Robert Duvall. It's probably just too quirky for most tastes and too slow for most viewers. Despite being low- key, there are some moments of intense temper and violence on the part of Duvall which helps keep ones attention.

I didn't need that, however, to keep my attention. Just trying to figure out Duvall kept me intrigued. My attention, however, accelerated when newcomer Luciana Pedraza entered the picture.

Pedraza is one of the most interesting "new faces" I've seen on film: a woman who has intelligence written over her face as few modern actresses ever have. This woman has a lot to offer: looks, intelligence, a good figure, a great dancer, wonderful voice and despite being Argentine, speaks better English than many Americans. A pity that as of this review in October of 2005, this is still her only screen appearance.

Between her and Duvall - who are both complex characters to say the least - along with some wonderfully-colorful cinematography, great dance scenes and intrigue about how an assassination plot will turn out, I found this film very pleasing.

This is unknown film that isn't fully appreciated not only with the public but with the reviewers here.

Robert Duvall directed this film, which seems first of all made in order to allow Robert Duvall the actor to play a pretended complex character of a paid killer with a soul. From this point of view the film is a failure. The character does not succeed to gain the sympathy of the viewer, and the complexity of the character is faked. Too much is badly written or un-explained in this movie. Even if action is not supposed to be in the focus, the reasons and details of the murder conspiracy and the events around are left too much in the fuzzy zone.

What remains is the well described atmosphere of Argentina, and the love of the character with tango dancing, and the beautiful Argentinian who introduces him to the secrets of tango. These are indeed the best moments of the film, but it is still to little to sustain the film, and left me with the feeling that they are strangely disconnected from the rest.

An un-satisfactory film experience. 6/10 on my personal scale.

I love Duvall as an actor but he should stick to acting. Assassin Tango gets lost in its' subplot, long and mundane sequences about the assassins relationship with an Argentinian tango dancer. It doesn't go anywhere and is seriously in need of editing. The main story, about a hit on an ex-general responsible for too many desaparacidos is better but pretty chopped up so the tension is lost. Duvall seemed to suffer from the Woody Allen syndrome, trying to reclaim his youth.

I have seen this movie and thought it was great. The casting is well done because the characters are actually down to earth people. The acting is closer to the way people are in the real world, which makes parts of the plot more tangible. The photography also makes this movie worth seeing, as it shows the world as it is, not changed in any way whatsoever. For the acting and the plot, as well as the photography, this movie is worth seeing. The movie transports the viewer to the areas the main character goes to, which makes the movie extremely enjoyable. The music is great, and is the basis of the movie, and helps it move along while keeping the viewer interested in it.