Testosterone

Hard to think of any other film where the putative good guy and the bad guy are uniformly repugnant. That the setting is Argentina reminds me of that country's major cultural contribution to the world -- the tango. The dance evolved from a musical entertainment for men only in which the participants combined hard-bitten, menacing moves with unmistakeably erotic passion. The soundtrack of this film, including some modern Astor Piazzolla, reinforces an impression genuinely Argentine.

The problem encountered here is one already noted in several comments, namely, that the story is out of focus. A rather preposterous ending compounds the offense. It's really too bad, because otherwise I found myself drawn to the underlying notion of finding resolution to a dramatic theme by moving the scene to some exotic locale. "Flying Down to Buenos Aires," as it were.

Noir and comedy mix well only in the area of satire. One comes away from viewing this apparent attempt to combine the two not with an appreciation of its cleverness, but with a sour taste in one's mouth. In some sense, I got the feeling neither the creators of the film nor possibly some of the actors were altogether thrilled by the script or the characterizations. That's a kiss of death not unlike one might have witnessed at the conclusion of a tango danced in some nineteenth-century Buenos Aires brothel.

This film was certainly flawed and missed some great opportunities to be a lot better but it really wasn't that bad. I watched it from start to finish and that says a lot about a movie to me. It was not art, but I was certainly entertained. The ironic part of this film was that Antonio was really not that interesting on the screen. All the other actors and actresses were far more intriguing and Antonio's character was probably more important than the actor himself. This movie's only true downfall was that it didn't really capture its "theme" well enough to give the movie an overall point. Also, it was probably just a tad bit too convoluted. It's worth the 90 minute time investment, though, cause it's at least entertaining..

Lots of things don't make sense in this film, which irritates. But it's so homo-erotic that a lot can be forgiven. Sonia Braga in full dragon mode, and lots of partially- or fully-naked hunks sucking face. Jennifer Coolidge has the funniest lines in the film, and I love her deadpan delivery in this one. It has the makings of a camp classic, but the premise of the film is irretrievably flawed. Given the final resolution, there is no reason any of the characters would have put themselves and each other through all of this. And the final shot (was that meant to be a twist of some kind?) makes absolutely no sense. Most tragically, no one ended up with the adorable bell-hop! I'd have taken him home in a heartbeat! ;-)

A gay graphic novelist from the States is obsessed with finding his hunky Latin lover, who has mysteriously walked out on him; a search for the guy down in Argentina becomes a complex whirlpool of doubt, suspicion, paranoia and murder. David Sutcliffe, a low-keyed actor who resembles a gritty John Stamos, gives a passable performance here, yet it is tough to discern what the filmmakers were aiming for. As a noir, the movie doesn't absorb much interest with its loosely-hinged plot; as a mystery with a gay-hook, the picture is far too timid, teasing its target audience with just a few man-on-man lip locks. The low-budget shows, with the filmmakers failing to utilize the exotic locations to their full advantage...and why have the Latin stud disappear so soon? We hardly get anything useful out of this central relationship before he's gone--or was it to prevent alienating a heterosexual audience who might be sensitive to gay clinches? If straight movies about sexual obsession were this cautious, more viewers would be abandoning Hollywood films for foreign or pornographic pictures. This is an unusual attempt, but it is ultimately unsuccessful. ** from ****

I do not know the novel. So , I can not compare with original a dark, decent film about loss, secrets, searches and romance, revenge and roots of succes. Sure, it seems have the sins of low budget films. The story is not always coherent, the actors , their name and their bodies are the main attraction, the story is not the very convincing one but, after its end, this mix of love/ obsession story, film noir attempt seems, for very subjective motives, just decent. The flavor of leaves ash in fall - like is, maybe , the best virtue.