The Virgin of Juarez

Juarez is the Mexican city opposite El Paso, Texas. Juarez has become a center of manufacturing by American companies. There has been a spade of murders against young women. L.A. reporter Karina Danes (Minnie Driver) arrives to do a story on the killings. She finds help from Father Herrera (Esai Morales) and activist Patrick (Angus MacFadyen). The police is ineffective. Mariela (Ana Claudia Talancón) survives an attack. She becomes the saintly Virgin of Juarez.

The seriousness of the real situation puts this movie to shame. Of course, it opens with "Inspired by actual events." The movie itself is a silly mess. The actors are perfectly fine. I accept the perfunctory white lead actor. The problem is mainly about the awkward script especially when it's compared to the real story.

I grew up on the Texas/Mexican border a little further south of El Paso/Juarez and what is happening there and Nuevo Laredo is nothing short of tragic. Anyone who thinks this film brings light on this horrible situation must be on drugs. If you are ignorant to what is going on at our borders, this film will only confuse you into believing that this much death could not possibly be true. I watched this film and could look past the "After School Special" directing approach Kevin adopted. I could even look past terrible casting & bad acting but as a Latino growing up in that area, I couldn't help but being offended with the stereotypical way we are portrayed. Growing up as a gang banger in LA with a gang banger lifestyle could not be further than the way I grew up. I guess that is the only way you can portray 1st generation Latinos in this industry and make money. I am not saying those things don't exist but that is not the only way Latinos live in this country. DO NOT WATCH THIS FILM!!! Please read about what is really happening on our borders and how the drug lords have taken over in these areas and educate yourself about the people who are dying everyday. The producers of this film obviously didn't have enough respect for these poor dead women to take this subject seriously.

I also don't think the real truth about what is happening in Juarez was told and the part of the girl going to l.a. was ridiculous. would not recommend, they should make a real movie about it, but then again they would run the risk of getting killed. My mother lives in El Paso and she doesn't like to go to Juarez because just last week 2 people got killed at a grocery store. It's getting out of hand. I think the drug lords are the ones scaring everyone from Juarez so they can take over the border city. As I was watching the movie I thought that one of those girls could of been me, just because I used to party over in Jurez from Thursday through Sunday. Thank god nothing happened, that was about 13 years ago. I really hope they fix everything down there, it's a wonderful place to visit and party, I mean was.

This movie is almost as bad as the experience of working on it was - for me, anyway. I think that men with waning careers, such as the director of this movie, should find some sort of an exploitation vehicle to try and remain afloat. To take a true story, where so much innocent blood was - and apparently continues to be - spilled on the streets of Juarez and turn it into a shoot 'em up comic book farce that has zero to do with what actually took place is great disservice to the victims. The story is real, and needs to be told; I am looking forward to the Gregory Nava/Jennifer Lopez vehicle in the works. This movie is very well made, for the means allotted (very low budget), and the cast does an excellent job: too bad the opportunity to bring needed attention to the horrors taking place on our border was wasted by substandard storytelling.

IMO, the film is deserving of a middle of the scale rating for being good in some ways, such as some of the acting, but losing focus on the central story. That's why I gave it 5 stars.

To judge by the reviews, some reviewers either had a bad experience working on the film and are leaving 1 star reviews out of anger. They might not have even seen the finished film. Others who want to support the film by leaving a 10 star review might also include people who haven't seen the film as in the case of one 10 star reviewer who said that the film is about "human trafficking of women" when the film is about murders of women.

You'll have to watch at least some of the film and decide for yourself.