The Art of Losing (2004) User Reviews

Hottest thing since Selma Hayek

[lastliberal · 7/10 · 8 August 2008]

Not all good movies managed to get US distribution. This one, only played in Columbia and France, but it is still worth the time to explore.

Victor (Daniel Giménez Cacho) is a bum journalist who drinks too much and mourns the fact that his wife left him. He gets a deal from the Police Chief. In exchange for writing a speech, he can investigate a man who was impaled.

He teams up with Estupiñán (César Mora), who is trying to find out where his brother is. Their investigation is reminiscent of Chinatown, in that they are having great difficulty, as we the viewer are, in sorting out the good guys from the bad, as gangsters and politicians and civil servants all appear to be involved in a crooked land deal.

Along the way, he is joined by Quica (Martina García), a prostitute, and just about the hottest think out of South America since Selma Hayek. Their adventures take them through a nudist colony, and, before it is all over, crawling over many dead bodies.

The ending should be surprising, but it is to be expected in this climate of corruption.

Well worth viewing, and not just for Senorita Garcia.

High budget movies in Colombia

[ocastelblanco · 1/10 · 16 November 2005]

With "Rosario Tijeras", "Perder es cuestión de método" is one of the most expensive movies in Colombia's history. And one of the worst.

I can't believe it: you have at least 3 million dollars, a great team, great actors, a huge publicity machine, more than 25 years of cinematographic career, and you made this "movie"...

I'm Colombian (proud of), but I can't lie: there is at least thousand better movies in Colombia. And when I see movies of Majid Majidi or Takashi Miike or Jim Jarmush or hundred of great low budget directors I just feel envy: Why in Colombia we can't make high quality movies? I hope I can be alive to see the first great Colombian movie.

Amazing Movie!!! Please read my posting

[markmo-1 · 10/10 · 9 October 2006]

First at all I want all people who read my posting to know that I am Colombian, my second language is English and I would love to write my thoughts in Spanish but since the forum's rules are English here I go:

I want to say that the movie is wonderful, Sergio Cabrera amazed me because he proved himself that he knows how to create a masterpiece and not only tragicomedies related to football and guerrillas, I could notice that there are many Colombian stories that can be told without have to appeal to our main flagellums( guerrillas and drug traffic). An amazing story was told, the director emphasized in the character of each one of the actors, with the movie's budget I think it had very good special effects, fabulous edition, excellent soundtrack and incidental music. To me it has been one of the best Colombian movies ever made and I hope they keep producing projects with the same quality.

Worst movie ever.

[macamilo · 1/10 · 7 November 2006]

This movie is one of the most horrible experiences of my life. With once having sat through twelve hours of constipation, I have yet to sit through a dump that was more excruciatingly painful than watching this Colombian film. This movie was seriously the worst movie This is the stuff nightmares are made of. Don't go see this under any circumstances. If your significant other wants to see this, fake your death. Anyway you can get out of this movie is truly a blessing. Martina García terrible actress, Really BAD I do not recommend it. As they throw that amount of money in that? The history of corruption in Colombia is very repeated on Colombian films. Bad Actors This was a stupid, horrid, and dull-plotted movie. Do yourself a favor and do not make the mistake I did.

Well made dark thriller with romance and comedy

[TdSmth5 · 8/10 · 1 June 2009]

A guy walking his dog near a lake discovers a rotting impaled corpse. The police chief gives the exclusive to a depressed reporter in exchange for a favor. The reporter named Victor is estranged from his wife/girlfriend and keeps a mannequin in his room to talk to. He also suffers from hemorrhoids, an issue that gets a lot of attention at first for some reason and then is thankfully ignored for the rest of the movie.

While family members missing someone visit the morgue to see if they can identify the body, one of them becomes more involved in the investigation. He becomes Victor's humorous side-kick. He's also of humble means but interested in world affairs and asks political questions of Victor in order to learn.

In the meantime we get to know a politician involved in land deals, his lawyer, a strip club owner, an engineer working on planning a community on a piece of land. The investigation leads our team to a strip joint/whorehouse were a beautiful prostitute named Quica shows interest in Victor. He returns the next day and becomes involved with Quica.

It turns out that the dead person owned a huge piece of land over which various factions are fighting over. There's political intrigue, corruption, mobsters, thugs. And these various groups are looking for the original ownership documents which are necessary for any transfer of the property. There's also a twist as to the identity of the corpse.

So for the most part, the story is laid out clearly. There's some bureaucratic convolution but it seems fairly clear what happened and why. But the movie still manages to keep us interested in seeing what will happen to all the characters. What will happen with the relationship of Victor and Quica? Will the guilty parties be brought to justice? We have to recall here that the police chief a friend of Victor's and that corruption is rampant everywhere.

This Colombian/Spanish co-production is well-made and well-acted. I do think though that Victor is miscast. The role of Quica is performed by the gorgeous Martina García, who's both cute and sexy. She ends up stealing the show pretty much. Overall, the movie lacks some of the humor that we often find in Colombian movies. But it has some deep and touching moments, as when a gravedigger with leprosy asks our team to remember his name because no one wants to know his name. The music I found somewhat annoying- there some of those annoying silly tunes one finds in Italian movies. I did find the story interesting and cared for the characters.

The DVD comes with an excellent 90+ minutes behind the scenes feature where we get to see all sorts of things that can go wrong during film-making.

My favorite Colombian movie!

[dajara62 · 9/10 · 4 October 2005]

Despite the recent great productions made by or whit Colombians, I just want to let the readers know, that it might not became your favorite Colombian movie, but you will undoubtedly like it!!

As all the other films from Sergio Cabrera, its a mixture of drama, suspense and action.

It is also an extraordinary post of the unbelievable secret tales that Bogotá can hide. You will love Martina García's character, and you will never lose the interest of resolving the knot by yourself.

Remember always to support Colombian productions! (Not too much budget, but lot of talent and amazing stories).