État de choc

What would YOU do, seems to be the central question here. In America, there's a waiting list for organs... And it's a VERY long one. Your daughter needs one desperately, and thanks to a certain illicit trade going on in Mexico, you may have the opportunity of saving her life. But there's a catch... you may have to suspend your moral compass, and turn a blind eye to conduct which is inhumane to say the least. Could you live with yourself knowing what had happened, if it meant your child got a second chance?

I am being deliberately oblique here, as there are secrets I would dare not reveal. But sufficed to say, many people would come away from this film thinking that they'd made a different choice to the main character... Me included. But I could understand why he went along the path he did, and I respected that. I'll stop there, and just add that this was a competent thriller for the most part... nothing special but with enough action and drama to last you until you reach the finish line.

This is the point where EVERYTHING that has gone before is overshadowed by the key dilemma. Like one of the Choose Your Own Adventure books I used to like so much, it is a real head-scratcher. Sometimes, there are no easy answers... 6/10

INHALE is a fine little gripping drama from writers Walter Doty and John Clafin who based this timely tale on a story by Christian Escario about the extremes to which people will go to when terminal illness takes the mains stage of their lives. It is a very dark story but survives becoming morbidly dreary by the sensitive direction from Baltasar Kormákur and a strong cast.

Paul Stanton (Dermot Mulroney) is a successful attorney married to Diane (Diane Kruger) and they have one child Chloe (Mia Stallard) who suffers form a terminal pulmonary disease. The family's life is driven by love but also by the fact that Chloe needs frequent emergency trips to the hospital because of her tenuous hold on life. Paul and Diane are finally told Dr. Rubin (Roseanna Arquette) that the only choice they have for saving Chole is a lung transplant. Paul searches the methods for finding an entry into this overcrowded demand for organ transplant and when he discovers that a powerful man James Harrison (Sam Shepard) received an illegal heart transplant in Mexico, Paul sets out to find the source. In Mexico he discovers just how crime-ridden is this area of 'sales' and persists until he uncovers a doctor Navarro - a code name - in the person of Dr. Martinez (Vincent Perez). The hideaway compound where the illegal transplants are performed is surrounded by poor people and gangs and the one person that helps the desperate Paul find the source of illegal organs is a kid who befriends him. When a 'donor' becomes available, there is a decision that Paul must make, one based on human kindness and compassion balancing with his won desires to deliver lungs to his daughter.

Mulroney is particularly excellent in this tough role and the gamut of emotions is staggering. And the remainder of the cast, including the gifted Jordi Mollà in an important cameo, is superb. The film is intense and disturbing but successfully explores the little known world of illegal organ transplantation. Another fine feather in the cap of Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur!

Grady Harp

Fast paced movie with a good plot.The movie talks about the illegal part of heart transplantation and how they do it. the casts fit the role exactly and the movie doesn't lose its objective or story anywhere. The emotional part in the movie is touching. the movie enters the story in the very first scene itself. The scenes are properly edited and there is no confusion in any of the scenes. The movie catches its speed once the hero enters the Mexico. From there on the furious story of illegal heart transplantation begins. The hero too goes there to find a heart for his daughter who ails from serious asthma problems.She needs an immediate transplantation. But the hero faces a great piece of challenge, Ethics. In the last scene , he faces his own moral values against saving his daughter. Watch it. Its worth watching.Its actually good!

This movie is part of a series of movies (Babel, Man on fire comes to mind) which portray the very difficult Mexican social and economic situation next to the American border and how delicate the balance between the two countries is. While North Americans in general have a complete ignorance of the culture and origins of Mexico, they still see them as a source of trouble for their fatherland. As I speak, more restrictive immigration laws are being enforced for Mexicans and South Americans in some states in the U.S. A part of the North American society believes drugs, mobs and social violence is directly related to Mexicans. Again, the turmoil in Mexico is in no small part caused by the necessities North Americans have to "sustain" their honest, well intentioned way of life.

This necessity is what moves a prosecutor (played convincingly by Dermot Mulroney) to go deep into cruel and dangerous Mexican territory (mainly Juarez) in search of an illegal lung donor and an illegal transplant in order to save his daughter's life. During the journey, he'll encounter a dark life of crime and violence unknown to many Americans except when they have to resort to Mexicans for the dirty jobs they won't do themselves or for their convenience. The movie builds tension quite appropriately as we see a desperate father willing to risk his life in search of a mysterious doctor who is in charge of such operations. In his way, he'll see children gangs, prostitution, corrupt policemen and all the colors of human misery when poverty reigns. But he will also discover kindness, decency and the innocence of children (even those carrying automatic guns). In the eyes of the character everyone is corrupt and dishonest and this concept (although it may offend Mexicans or Latin Americans) is exactly what the script aims to do. It tries to show us how ignorant rich societies are of the way poor ones live and that not everyone who lives humbly is a criminal as the main character will find out. He'll also find out that the most despicable characters in the movie are not even Mexicans. (Surprise, surprise they are fellow North Americans). This is a journey of awakening for someone who has to go down to hell because he needs to.

In any case, the characters are believable. The wife (played by Diane Kruger) is a strong and determining character. Chief of police Aguilar (played by an impeccable Jordi Moya) is everything you'd expect from a degenerated police officer and Sam Shepard is also convincing. The music also deserves special mentioning although Newton Howard is basically copying Santaolalla's concept as heard in Brokeback Mountain or Babel. The in crescendo and the very emotional ending add to a movie which is decent and leaves a very important message mostly Mexicans and South Americans as I understand. Rich societies play an important part in the state of poverty (and its consequences) which is undermining poor societies and they have the moral power to revert this situation. That is, if they really wanted to.

The movie is generally good. I don't know why some reviewers have focused on the incredulity of the story. I think this movie makes a good rental. It is a bit of a hard viewing, not just because of some violence or sex but because of the overall subject matter itself. I thought that the director kept the focus on the story.

When I checked for the reviews I was surprised that it did not have very many reviews. I think the producers and director should be given some positive feedback because this movie did appear to deliver as a movie.

There are some intensely annoying loose ends. So ignore the first ten minutes. If it was not for this I would have given this movie 7 or even 8. Since the story was not cleaned up in the beginning it gets only 6 out of 10.