movies-by-db
A nice brooding noir kind of mystery thriller. Pretty original and effective in the Spanish language, though it probably would work very well somewhere in the marshy backlands of America. It's just a nice tight story.A couple of small time crooks with a common past make the mistake of doing their "bussiness" within their one very tightknit community. This goes wrong and turns pretty volatile as this outback, marshland community is used to dishing out it's own justice among it's inhabitants. Agustin steps into his brothers shoes and a world that is far more scary and anxious then the one he has desperately tried to flee.A great film with some beautiful photography and nice mounting tension, but as i mentioned, it could have played out almost anywhere. When I watched it I (obviously) thought it was Spanish, I found out after that it's Argentinian. This doesn't really show anywhere. It's in fact a pretty small film, as small as it's tightknit community.Nice, but weird, to see Viggo Mortensen in this role. He plays it perfectly but it's still slightly distracting to me. Supporting cast is good too, particularly "Baby" and 'best' friend "Adrian". The only role that didn't really impress was the wife "Claudia". It was either her acting or the maybe less believable role she has to play, just not entirely convincing.All in all a good low key, slowburning thriller. Bit of mystery, bit of tension and a bit of yearning. Remade, with some gunfights and explosions, this would probably turn into a "Homefront" type of movie, so let's just leave it as it is. 7/10
Maryjnberry
This movie is brilliant, but, as one reviewer states it is like the movie "Mud", however, I don't agree. It is nothing like that movie except that it is set on the river. Viggo, playing both Pedro and Augustine is very believable, and gives a stellar performance, as usual. This movie is one of the best foreign films I have seen this year, the filming is fantastic, the supporting cast are very believable and do better than average for this genre. The story is about 3 men, two of which are twin brothers who grew up with a third boy, they all got into mischief together, but Pedro, one of the brothers was more daring than his brother Augustine, and got into more trouble with their friend, in fact they did crime together, while Augustine was busy living a relatively safe life with a wife and regular job, but was very unhappy in that role. Pedro, visits his brother and tells him he is sick, among other things, which gives Augustine the perfect opportunity to change his life....it gets extremely interesting from here on in....how Viggo plays Augustine, acting like his brother Pedro, and pulling it off in front of his childhood friend, his wife and the girl he has a tentative relationship with....he is nothing but brilliant in this movie.
cinematic_aficionado
A very thorough character study on the subject of choice and responsibility and undoubtedly an acting test for Mortnensen.A man whose marriage is on the rocks is visited by his terminally ill twin brother who request that he kills him and once the request is granted the surviving brother decides to take his place and his life, especially when the now deceased twin has revealed where he kept his stash of cash.With his wife in the city convinced he is dead, a new life starts for him but in doing so he is unaware that the deceased twin was in serious trouble, thus finding himself seriously exposed.One of the more unusual stories, with a ring of originality to it, with the concepts of option and accountability strongly attached on the plot. Mortensen is brilliant and utterly convincing as a man who evades one life of complication to land onto another one.Although largely below the radar, this is one of the better films of 2013.
carla-griggio
Being an Argentinian, of course I ran to the movies to see Viggo Mortensen in a local movie. I have to admit that I didn't even know what the plot was going to be about, so I was open to anything.Although I use to hate the way argentinians act (it's like acting, here in Argentina, is not about performing fiction in a believable way but something else...), during the movie I found hilarious that Viggo, despite his slightly weird accent, was acting way more natural and believable than almost everyone else. Don't ask me why, I just feel proud of him. He rocks. Soledad Villamil and Daniel Fanego were OK, but Sofia Gala's performance was quite poor. Besides the acting, I think the main ideas of the screenplay weren't well developed and got lost in a slow movie. It's a shame, because the storyline could have been something much much better, actually worthy of a decent cast and production.So... I give it a six just because Viggo Mortensen's performance was amazing, but overall, it's a slow movie that could have been great, but just isn't, and that leaves you disappointed.
AD
