Secuestro express (2005)

Young couple Carla (Maestro) and Martin (Leroux) are abducted by three men and spend a terrifying night in Caracas as they wait for Carla's father (Blades) to hand over the ransom.

Director:

Jonathan Jakubowicz

Writer:

Jonathan Jakubowicz

Stars:

Mía Maestro, Jean Paul Leroux, Rubén Blades

2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Mía Maestro	...	Carla
Rubén Blades	...	Carla's Father
Carlos Julio Molina	...	Trece
Pedro Perez	...	Budu
Carlos Madera	...	Niga Sibilino
Jean Paul Leroux	...	Martin
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dalila Colombo
Elba Escobar	...	Drugstore Cashier
Dimas González	...	Guardia
Miguel Ángel Landa	...	Police's Councilor.
Balmore Moreno	...	Oficial Briceno
Ermahn Ospina	...	Marcelo
Rider	...	Cangrejo

Storyline

In a night pregnant with a strange mix of tension and dizzy abandon, lovers Carla and Martin prowl clubs before drunkenly wandering back to his car. While he comes across as crass nouveau riche, she appears more liberal. Their conspicuous affluence, however, makes them ideal targets for kidnappers, and the trio of Trece, Budu and Niga gets a bead on them and promptly sweeps them up at gunpoint. The kidnappers then demand $20,000 to be delivered in two hours. Carla phones her rich father Sergio to procure the money, but chaos soon ensues. A botched ATM robbery is followed by a stopover at the palatial estate of a gay drug dealer.

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Plot Keywords:

ransom | money | gay | drugs | corruption | 

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, drug use, sexuality and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the top grossing movie in Venezuela's box office history. It defeated Titanic and The Passion of the Christ, the former champions.

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Quotes

Niga Sibilino: Let's play Venezuelan roulette. I spin the chamber but you're the only player. If we don't have a winner, we play again. And so it goes until there's a winner. Which is you.

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Connections

References Saving Private Ryan (1998)

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Soundtracks

War Dogs
Written by Ben Watkins and Nick Burton
Performed by Juno Reactor

User Reviews

my 2 cents

here's my 2 cents:

• The acting is impressively good across the board, except maybe for Ruben Blades who is completely wasted in this role and whose inability to master the correct Venezuelan accent on his 3 short lines is unbelievable. I would not be so annoyed by this if I didn't expect more from such a fine actor.

• All three kidnappers are creepily believable although I did sense maybe a latino slash rapper slash thug feel which I just do not recognize in the local malandros I've seen.

• I thought the script was very good, some very memorable lines all throughout. I felt a little insulted by the "captions" shown explaining each character. I think it is better to let the audience reach its own conclusions on each character and not tell them what to think.

• There is an overall cheesiness to the movie which reaches intolerable heights at the end of the movie with a voice over. I just read a review somewhere and there was a phrase which captures this feeling - "kindergarten social commentary". Again, do not tell me how to feel.

• Overall though I found the movie to be shockingly good and an outstanding effort of local talent.

Details

Official Sites:

Miramax [United States]

Country:

Venezuela

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

10 March 2006 (Mexico)

Also Known As:

Apagogi express

Filming Locations:

Caracas, Venezuela

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$45,928, 7 August 2005

Gross USA:

$307,208

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,898,606

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tres Malandros

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1