Sequestro Relâmpago

I think it was a very good money, and feeds the paranoia every citizen of Caracas lives with. this movie hit me very close to home, and I could relate to the story very well... sadly.

The technical aspect was OK. I'm not really to nit picky about such things, as long as it doesn't bothers me while watching the movie. The acting was good enough, even great at some points.

Now, the movie can be a little bit biased, which is not necessarily bad. It shows a problem: kidnapping, crimes etc; and social resentment as the fuel of such things... from the victim point of view, being the victim wealthy people, and the criminals, poor people. So I guess people could identify with both sides: either by being disgusted by the elitists Martín; or enraged by how a good nature girl as Carla is passing through such an horrible experience.

At the end, it's nobody's fault.

The video quality in Secuestro Express is truly disappointing from the very beginning. The movie starts with blurry images of shanty towns in Caracas, I thought the blur was an intentional effect, and maybe perfect in-focus images were soon going to kick in, showing in sharp details the "ranchos and cerros", but nope... detail never arrived, the video quality was actually as bad as what I was thinking could be a blur special effect. Gave it the benefit of the doubt thinking it could be the theater's fault, but once again nope: letters in Twisted-Metal-Black evoking style started popping up on screen naming each character in the movie, and those letters were decently sharp and in focus. So it wasn't the theater but the film, no doubt. Thumbs down to extremely poor video quality.

Good points: acting of some of the bad guys, some of them were believably bad guys in some occasions, not in all occasions though. Overall cursing and foul language was also very realistic and spot-on. The girls acting was also good in some occasions, but not in all as well though. A nice aesthetic touch right before the nightmare, the song by Soledad Bravo in the drugstore was particularly beautiful.

Bad points: rich vs. poor philosophizing in the movie was extremely lame. Also, making the rich girl of a wealthy young couple in Caracas a generous and selfless/sacrificed voluntary nurse is pushing her character "just a bit", to say the least. To my surprise, acting of Ruben Blades was rather lame. Acting of the boyfriend I think was also extremely lame. Some of the unexpected twists in the movie seemed a little forced and extreme. That's completely subjective of course, just my impression. At the end, pervert cops nightmare possibility saved by a pseudo heroic act of one of the bad guys was also rather forced and imho lame, very unnecessary.

This film, along with "Man on Fire" proves that kidnapping surely makes for good drama. "Secuestro Express" shows the underbelly of a society that is decaying as we speak, a place torn apart by economics and class differences, and a place that is unforgiving and cruel to most of its population.

The 24-hour drama follows a kidnapped couple and their victimizers as their drama unfolds. "Secuestro Express" is rawer than its American predecessor, with its crude language, relentless references to social abuse and sexual references. There are times when I couldn't help feeling sick in my stomach because here was a film where anything could happen. The dialog is frank, the portrayals are very realistic, and the tone of the film is very dark. There are almost no moments when one can feel any respite from the tragedies happening on the screen.

Maestro does a wonderful job as the victim who fully understands what is happening to her and her fiancé and might at times relate to her captors' experience. The last 15 minutes of the film are likely to provoke some heated discussion, as the film reaches its climax. Special mention should go to the actor portraying Budu, a new villain to match in the annals of cinema.

Overall the film delivers and barely misses reaching perfect score because of its production values. Nevertheless its very assured direction, impressive camera-work, and excellent acting prove that bloated budgets and talentless actors might be an endangered species.

here's my 2 cents:

• The acting is impressively good across the board, except maybe for Ruben Blades who is completely wasted in this role and whose inability to master the correct Venezuelan accent on his 3 short lines is unbelievable. I would not be so annoyed by this if I didn't expect more from such a fine actor.

• All three kidnappers are creepily believable although I did sense maybe a latino slash rapper slash thug feel which I just do not recognize in the local malandros I've seen.

• I thought the script was very good, some very memorable lines all throughout. I felt a little insulted by the "captions" shown explaining each character. I think it is better to let the audience reach its own conclusions on each character and not tell them what to think.

• There is an overall cheesiness to the movie which reaches intolerable heights at the end of the movie with a voice over. I just read a review somewhere and there was a phrase which captures this feeling - "kindergarten social commentary". Again, do not tell me how to feel.

• Overall though I found the movie to be shockingly good and an outstanding effort of local talent.

Years ago, Warner Brothers re-released its two landmark gangster films of the thirties, "Little Caesar" and "Public Enemy" with a brief prologue that said the gangster was a problem "we the public must eventually solve." Writer/director Jonathan Jakubowicz's "Secuestro Express" ends with a epilogue that notes that "half the people of the world suffer from malnutrition, the other half from obesity." It's a stunning message, but it almost gets lost because the film it caps is a stunning thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat and for the most part, keeps you from focusing much on the social issues involved.

Set in Caracas,Venezuela, the film examines what has become almost a regional pastime in Latin America, kidnapping. In this case, its quick, down and dirty snatches of middle class people whose families can pony up relatively modest amounts of money in exchange for getting their loved ones back in one piece. It's literally "Express kidnapping." This particular abduction is of a trendy young upper middle class couple snatched as they snort coke and toke marijuana in their SUV outside a trendy nightclub. That all plays a role in the story, for the nominal leader of the trio of thugs castigates the victims for rubbing their wealth in people's faces by wearing expensive clothes and driving pricey cars. But the kidnappers are not revolutionaries, just minor hoodlums who, in a bid to collect just 40-thousand dollars in ransom, terrorize two perfectly normal people.

Carlos Julio Molina, Pedro Perez and Carlos Madera are outstanding as the hoodlums, as different from standard Hollywood criminals as night is from day. Jean Paul Leroux is also good as the male half of the trendy couple, a man with secrets of his own.

But the star of this film is the female kidnap victim, played by the beautiful and unreasonably talented Mia Maestro. She danced her way through "Tango," she has sung her way through numerous stage musicals and this time, she gets to act her way though 24 hours of hell. She handles the role magnificently, her emotions skipping from rage to flirtatious manipulation, to utter horror when she believes she is about to be raped and murdered.

For those who have seen her on "Alias," playing Jennifer Garner's sister in spying, Maestro more than lives up to the promise she showed there.

This movie is a jolting, sometimes shocking picture that often makes you uncomfortable, but never bores you. See this thriller, but don't ignore its message.