A lesser film by the great Sérgio Rezende ("Guerra de Canudos", "Salve Geral") but a fine one with many good performances and moments. It's a
story that needed to be told, as it escaped many peoples attention - unless if you follow crime news - but at the same time the sense of urgency and
curiosity is a little lost as films and reality have a certain sense of cliché and predictability that it's hard to get completely involved with. It's
major assets revolve on the talent of its cast, and the idealization that the legal system can work for good as long as the men and wearing the robe
of justice aren't corrupt and easily influenced by exterior forces.
"Em Nome
da Lei" ("In the Name of the Law") is inspired by the real story of an honest and idealist judge (played by Matheus Solano) inclined to fight the organized
crime, the drug trafficking and the corruption of the police and the legal system at the Brazilian border with Paraguay. In this dangerous area, the crime
boss Gomes (the always effective Chico Díaz) rules everything and everyone, ordering the killing of rivals and traitors, and also has influent friends in
justice and the police. Nothing stands on his way until this new judge gets in town and slowly gets some work done, with the help of a disenchanted but
hard working investigator (Eduardo Galvão) and a dedicated prosecutor (Paolla Oliveira), who becomes a love interest of the young judge.
Don't like saying this but nearly every known scenario of similar themed films happen in this one: the judge suffers some assassination attempts;
the drug dealer kills some of his own men for not doing their job right; a loyal pilot (Silvio Guindane) joins the good guys after knowing his wife cheats
on him with his boss (but the murder-suicide attempt using a plane to kill everybody was very scary and surprised me a lot); the typical dialogues revolving
on what can and cannot be done in order to arrest the criminal; the infiltrated cop (Sacha Bali) detailing the police operations; and the major surprise comes
in the form of a funny bailiff presenting the judge's warrants to the bad guys - he's also responsive for a shocking plot twist that it's not worth mentioning.
It's a little difficult to follow everything, not the story's complexity and many characters but as in how the elements and situations are put
together. The action is quite alright, some scenes doesn't have an expected pay-off and it's never exactly how the judge entered the drug-dealer' mansion
at the party without being noticed (except for his future friends in the police department). The romance bit was an expendable artistic licence, as the real
judge had a family.
But the overall message was good and relevant. Stories revolving on stubborn strong-minded people who take action against the wrongs of life are always
thrilling and good to watch - despite the character played by Solano becoming a cold figure that is hard to relate with (but it suits with the man's position).
Díaz doesn't play the bad guy in a heavily cliched manner as there are many dimensions of the character on the screen as a family man, as an important businessman
facing a lot of debt problems, and ultimately as a man in control of everything that slowly loses himself. The late Eduardo Galvão was a real treat to watch, as
the good cop who understands how the system is crooked and barely nothing good can be made but slowly he gets impressed by the judge's actions, becoming a loyal
figure to the cause.
It's not a deep important film as it could be, but it satisfies a great deal. Perhaps we need to see a documentary about the actual case - if there is
one made. It would be worth seeing. 7/10.
