A taxi driver's worst nightmare is being assaulted by a passenger. Imagine Ulises' surprise as he is attacked by two low lives in a seedy part of town when his car stops running. Chavelo and Coto, are two desperate men who make a living mugging and committing petty crimes in Santiago. The pair, on their way to perform a few robberies give Ulises and alternative, either drive, or get in the trunk of the car. He decides to drive them.
Chavelo and Coto begin their crime spree, as Ulises drives them all over town. They even offer Ulises a cut in the money they have taken from their illegal activities, but he refuses. Ulises, who lives in poverty with his wife and grown up children, is basically a honest man. All he wants is to finish paying his car in order to work; he also make an honest living to support his family.
The two robbers suddenly realize they can get to Ulises when they offer him money. A transformed Ulises suddenly feels tempted to go along with the Chavelo and Coto, but he makes a serious mistake, one that will bring him to the attention of the police that are investigating the robberies: he brags about what he went through to his colleagues, who will tell the police. Padilla, the police detective knows Ulises is involved, even if he is an unwilling party. The second mistake was paying another installment on the taxi.
This Chilean film, one of the most popular movies in recent years, is a cautionary tale for would be robbers, in that no matter how one looks at it, crime is wrong and it will be the downfall of anyone who thinks he can get away with his evil doings forever. Orlando Lubbert, the writer and director of "Taxi para 3" shows a great affinity for the material. His message is that Ulises can't get away covering for the Chavelo and Coto, knowing what they are doing harm to him and his family.
Alejandro Trejo, whose first film this is, shows a naturalness that perhaps a trained professional actor wouldn't project. He is the whole reason for watching the movie. Daniel Jimenez, who plays Chavelo, has an unpleasant voice that suits his character. Fernando Gomez Rovira is Coto, the simple minded petty thief being coached by Chavelo. Cristian Quezada has a couple of good moments as the inspector who figures out who is who in the story.
Since the film language uses Chilean street slang, we saw the English subtitled version because even though we are fluent in the language, for all practical purposes the characters were speaking Chinese. Orlando Lubbert shows great talent and an eye for bringing to life the people in his movie.
Chavelo and Coto begin their crime spree, as Ulises drives them all over town. They even offer Ulises a cut in the money they have taken from their illegal activities, but he refuses. Ulises, who lives in poverty with his wife and grown up children, is basically a honest man. All he wants is to finish paying his car in order to work; he also make an honest living to support his family.
The two robbers suddenly realize they can get to Ulises when they offer him money. A transformed Ulises suddenly feels tempted to go along with the Chavelo and Coto, but he makes a serious mistake, one that will bring him to the attention of the police that are investigating the robberies: he brags about what he went through to his colleagues, who will tell the police. Padilla, the police detective knows Ulises is involved, even if he is an unwilling party. The second mistake was paying another installment on the taxi.
This Chilean film, one of the most popular movies in recent years, is a cautionary tale for would be robbers, in that no matter how one looks at it, crime is wrong and it will be the downfall of anyone who thinks he can get away with his evil doings forever. Orlando Lubbert, the writer and director of "Taxi para 3" shows a great affinity for the material. His message is that Ulises can't get away covering for the Chavelo and Coto, knowing what they are doing harm to him and his family.
Alejandro Trejo, whose first film this is, shows a naturalness that perhaps a trained professional actor wouldn't project. He is the whole reason for watching the movie. Daniel Jimenez, who plays Chavelo, has an unpleasant voice that suits his character. Fernando Gomez Rovira is Coto, the simple minded petty thief being coached by Chavelo. Cristian Quezada has a couple of good moments as the inspector who figures out who is who in the story.
Since the film language uses Chilean street slang, we saw the English subtitled version because even though we are fluent in the language, for all practical purposes the characters were speaking Chinese. Orlando Lubbert shows great talent and an eye for bringing to life the people in his movie.