yogingm Reviews

Secuestro express (II) (2004)

Tarantino with a social message

[5/10 · 7 June 2006]

This is a fast-paced thriller about the kidnapping of a rich young couple after a night of clubbing and drug-taking in Caracas. The group then drive through the night and into the next day while they wait for the couple's parents to come up with the ransom money. The plot is full of twists and turns, and it was quite entertaining. However, a lot of what happens does not seem very realistic. I have the overriding impression that the movie is trying too hard to be cool and not trying hard enough to tell a convincing story.

Channelling the spirit of Tarantino, the gang of kidnappers are often funny though sometimes horribly cruel. They repeatedly justify their criminal activity, explaining that "half the city is starving". In general, though, the movie's efforts to discuss the social issues in Caracas are not well done. It also doesn't help the movie's progressive credentials that the homosexual characters are treated in such an unsympathetic manner.

As for the abducted couple, they don't inspire sympathy. Martin is a rich and selfish pretty boy who enjoys taking lots of drugs and, it turns out, has been indulging in homosexual encounters for years, unbeknownst to his fiancé Carla. She is also pretty and rich, but unlike Martin, she has a social conscience. She volunteers at a public hospital and is considering whether to let a poor, sick child come and live in her home. However, she seems to think that her volunteer work entitles her to better treatment from the kidnappers. She also shares Martin's partying and drug-taking lifestyle. Oddly, she also starts to bond with the kidnappers, chatting with them and repeatedly helping them get out of jams.

The director has thrown many twists and turns into the plot, but it would have been better if each was more fully developed. For example, when the despicable Martin has a chance to escape from the kidnappers, he abandons Carla without even going to seek help for her. Instead he tries to take a taxi home, but it turns out the driver is in cahoots with the kidnappers and returns Martin to them. This was a surprising (if unlikely) twist, and was one of many bizarre little twists thrown into the plot. I think it could have been done more cleverly by explaining why Martin didn't immediately go to the police and by somehow making it more likely that he'd end up in the hands of the kidnappers' friend.

United 93 (2006)

Not to be missed

[8/10 · 5 June 2006]

When I first heard about this film, I dismissed the idea of seeing it almost immediately. Why would I want to subject myself to watching people hurtling to their doom? However, I then read several positive reviews that convinced me it was worth seeing. After all, what event is more important than September 11th in contemporary history? It is important that we all think about the meaning of that day, and this film provides an interesting perspective on the events both inside United flight 93 and in the air traffic control centres that watched events unfold. The film looks like a real-life documentary, and this effect is accentuated by the use of unknown actors and even people on the ground who played themselves. The director has gone to great lengths to try and portray events as they actually occurred, using the best available evidence, and seems to have made reasonable guesses about what else may have occurred inside the doomed airline. This film leaves you with plenty to think about and should not be missed.

Wah-Wah (2005)

Watchable portrait of end-of-Empire Swaziland

[6/10 · 5 June 2006]

"Wah-Wah" is worth watching because it paints an intriguing portrait of the British Empire's final days in Swaziland and the acting is very good throughout. The story is supposedly based on Richard E. Grant's bizarre childhood and is at times shocking, such as when his alcoholic father tries to shoot him for no apparent reason. However, while there are lots of interesting little anecdotes from Mr. Grant's youth, the story as a whole is not very well tied together. For example, at one point Ralph's mother is locked out of the house, and it appeared that this was her being finally rejected by both Ralph and his father. However, a few scenes later she pops in again, and it's not clear how they reached this state of affairs. A second example comes at the end of the film. While the two young ladies I watched the film with cried at the end when the father tells Ralph that he never stopped loving his mother, I didn't feel particularly touched. In fact I didn't even understand the comment. At no other point does the movie ever convincingly suggest that Ralph's father was so enamoured with his first wife, and the film never shows anything even remotely appealing about her character.