Looking for Palladin (2008) User Reviews

Dreadful beginning hides an interesting story, set in an evocative place

[nebulousbox-imdb · 6/10 · 25 August 2013]

The story doesn't really start until the two main characters start talking to one another, in the restaurant. Seriously, you can skip most of what precedes that, especially any of the stupid buffoonery scenes involving the kid. The tone of the movie changes completely once the kid starts talking with the actor, and I recommend fast forwarding to that point, over 30 minutes in. Too bad rest of my family bailed out before then.

The essence of the movie is in the conversations between the kid and the other main characters. Rest of the scenes enrich the story being told, as does the setting in the very special town of Antigua Guatemala.

The characters know more than they're letting on. Pay particular attention to talk about families. But once you realize what is going on, there are many "Why?"s. I would have like to skip the stupid beginnings, and expanded the backstories and provided more answers for all of the "Why?" questions. Among other more obvious questions, why was this whole situation set into motion by the head of the talent agency who sent the kid there?

There are some good lines, and evocative movie titles (e.g. "Garden of Suffering"), in the dialog.

Beautiful class of values set in a beautiful place

[chax-3 · 10/10 · 17 June 2011]

Set in Antigua, Guatemala, where a young and brash Hollywood agent goes to find a long-away-from-Hollywood but prized actor, this movie tells of stories of parents and lost childhood, of the desire to live the life one chooses rather than the life others want of us, and along the way celebrates food and love. I had never heard of this movie, and rented it on impulse at our local independent rental store, Casa Video. I found myself taken where the best of movies take one, out of my world, to another place entirely. This is gloriously filmed as the sun shines on the streets of Antigua, as the actor turned cook spices his food not always according to customer taste, and as a young man comes to understand his elders and his past, and possibly to begin to determine his own identity in a way he has not done in the past.