Carne de neón

The first time that I saw that this movie only had a 5.something in IMDb I thought "maybe is not a good idea" but I gave it a chance and... WOW! Its funny (Sometimes dark, violently funny)thrilling, its been long, maybe since "Fargo" that a movie amazed me this much, the mix of genres is outstanding, it starts with comedy, shifts to thriller and finally to a drama.

The characters are so funny and fragile (Even though sometimes they do terrible things) but thats one of the things that I liked the most, the movie is challenging, you never know where the director is gonna take you and is always surprising. The actors are great, specially Vicente Romero and Angela Molina, they steal the movie.

By the way the ending is one of the best endings I've ever seen, so moving... A great film about bad guys with a huge heart, a must see!

Ricky, a young man who has grown up in the streets, wants to re-open the old Hiroshima Club (a brothel) with his two close friends in order that his mother, who has just been released from jail, will find a place where to work. Seems a rather simple idea, but enter writer/director Paco Cabezas and this 'comedy' becomes a rather raunchy bloodbath of poor taste saved only by the performances of a group of really talented actors!

To summarize the rather directionless story, try the following: 'Ricky (Mario Casas , a young charismatic Spanish actor who makes this story work) was abandoned at age 12 by his prostitute mother, Pura (Angela Molina). He lives the life of a street boy with help from pimp Angelito (Vicente Romero) and his junkie girl friend Scrag (Macarena Gomez); Angelito's hulking, simple-minded associate, El Niño (Luciano Caceres, another triumph of a performance); and transvestite La Infantita (Damaso Conde) who is trying to make money for a transgender surgery. Ricky is saving up to open a brothel as a gift for Pura when she gets out of jail -- a dangerous move, since they would be encroaching on the territory of tough guy El Chino (Dario Grandinetti). Ricky and Angelito (with some help from buy three Eastern European women for the club: it's suggested they're saving the girls from something worse. Sadly for Ricky, when Pura is released from jail, she's in the early stages of Alzheimer's and can't remember who he is. El Chino gives Ricky a week to raise a huge sum of payoff money for encroaching on his territory. The second half turns on his attempt to raise the cash, involving the kidnapping of Veronica (Blanca Suarez), the teenage daughter of corrupt police inspector Santos (Antonio de la Torre). There is a face-off at the end and it is surprising who survives!

Nearly all of the characters are sympathetic with Ricky, Angelito and the Kid forming an oddly appealing trio. There are many subplots - El Niño falls for a pregnant captive Irina (María Zamarbide ) who upon having her baby bonds with El Niño despite the fact that the baby is put up for sale on the black market while under the loving care of La Infantita, is an example - but in the end this is a rasty, at times funny but at other times crude and distasteful, self indulgent movie from Spain, saved (thankfully) by a super cast of actors! In Spanish with English subtitles. Grady Harp, March 12

There are somethings i like about this movie...It is very well filmed. the story its located in Europe but is filmed in south America and I think successfully...I suppose this decision was taken for questions of budget. I really like this part, i think its smart and works very well. On the other side I had the sensation of someone putting together a collection of well produced images but without a basic idea of how to build a narrative. Some kind of Guy Ritchie film without bones...without a script.

At the end a sensation of pretentious chaos, weak characters in a labyrinth without solution . I appreciate ambition but only in the consciousness of its creative limitations. Good effort and good technical skills on the way to nowhere.

The script is a complete mess, none of the black humour is funny and the jokes and references to people having sex with dogs are disgusting and disturbing.

Rickey is introduced at the beginning, as he narrates his life story as the child of a prostitute who was abandoned at the age of twelve as she ended up in jail. Awaiting her release from the pokey, he decides to celebrate by opening a nightclub/whorehouse in her honor. He and two other low level street criminals "recruit" girls for this undertaking. The drafted hookers include a Russian and a pregnant African refugee who gives birth to a boy shortly after starting to earn her keep at the brothel. In between, as Rickey's mom is paroled and her son picks her up for a family reunion, he discovers that the years of alcohol abuse have given her early Alzheimer's disease, so she does not recognize him.

Added to the cast of misfits is a mob boss named Chino, who is deeply disturbed by Rickey opening a place without his permission. He also seeks revenge on the police for beating his son to death during an arrest. In the words of Henry David Thoreau, simplify. Unfortunately, the writer has too many subplots going at once, which spoils some excellent acting by Mario Casas as Rickey and Angela Molina as his mother. Even with the criticism, Neon Flesh is still worth watching.