Glimmering and stunning adventure/dramedy film concerning a group of friends taking on a dangerous journey . A letter from Tombuctu, Mali , revealing his old friend Joseba is very ill , moves to Tocho (Hovik Keuchkerian) -who works in Bilbao's docklands- to travel France for meeting his old friend Jean Pierre (Jean Reno) . Both of whom are jointed by the rebel and misguided Ely (Susana Abaitua) , Joseba's daughter , and all of them travel from Spain to Mali to meet Ely's dying father for the last time . As they set out in meeting their lifelong friend, estranged of their youth days , as long time ago they three traveled from Spain to Tombuctu to sell race cars . Nowadays , Joseba (Enrique San Francisco) who established himself in Mali, and there married an African woman , is very sick . All of them travel to Cadiz to cross in ship the Strait of Gibraltar, arriving Ceuta. From there , go passing the Sahara desert to arrive in Tombuctu to find the estranged father and friend Joseba . Along the way , they are detained at a custom control , deceived by Tuaregs , and , eventually , they are stunned by a young African stowaway named Mamadou (Juan Dos Santos) who was hidden into the car.
This fun story focuses the trio of friends knowing a letter about a dying colleague , it forces them to make a radical change on their lives , as tired of their bored and routine existences and leaving their jobs , they carry out a risked voyage throughout a barren desert , fighting against the perilous natural environment , and lack of water . In this well worth seeing picture there is nostalgic friendship , humor , drama , action , thrills and riveting landscapes . Four protagonists are frankly fabulous , and another starring is a 1982's Renault 4 modified as race car from the first days of Paris-Dakar Rally. As the excellent actors give nice performances , such as : Hovik Keuchkerian as a rude and bad-manners Basque , Jean Reno as the sympathetic and kind French veteran , as well as the good-natured but rebellious and mistaken young daughter played by Susana Abaitua . Adding other fine secondaries as the lost African Juan Dos Santos , Arturo Valls as a Spaniard street drug dealer and Francesc Garrido an old illegal trader who has old unfinished business with Jean Pierre . All interpretations of actors are top-notch , but especial mention for the veteran Enrique San Francisco who is really extraordinary , delivering one of his final roles .
Cinematography by cameraman Gonzaga Manson is awesome , like is well reflected on the spectacular and breathtaking scenarios . Sensational musical score with 13 beautiful songs sung by Pajaro Sunrise , including charming songs like "Shooting stars on the road to Timbuktu" and "See you soon" . The picture was competently directed by Gerardo Olivares who is an expert filming documentaries : Caravana , Marcos , el lobo , Dos Cataluñas, among others . In his life, Gerardo Olivares has been in more than 100 countries and filmed over than 80 documentaries, many of them in Africa . All this has been collected in his documentaries, sold all over the world for the most important television channels . Since 2006, Gerardo Olivares changes the documentaries for fiction movies and he will be known for La Gran Final (2006) , 14 Kilómetros (2007) , Entrelobos (2010), El Faro de las Orcas , Hermanos del viento and 4 Latas (2018) . The movie will appeal to lovers of the nature and dramedy enthusiasts and to Jean Reno fans . Rating : 7/10 . Notable , better than average . Good, worthwhile seeing.
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