Aristides-2 The writer part of the writer-director (Ron Morales) must have decided to shoot the first draft of 'Graceland' because if he had read it a second or third time he would have seen the glaring story problems that unfortunately infect the movie released to the general public. Spoilers. We learn near the end of the story that the gunman/kidnapper did the crime to avenge the underage daughter who the bad congressman hired to have sex with and who he unwittingly gave alcohol to, such alcohol causing the child to die because of a low tolerance for it. Problem here? The movie early on established that the congressman went to a bordello that specialized in underage girls. Well folks, didn't her amoral, stupid and psychotic father know where she earned her cash? Why didn't he stop her from being a whore? Oh... that's because she died after being forced to drink booze. Bad man doesn't care about the prostitution but doesn't want his daughter to drink. Yikes. 2. If dad was so sensitized to all of the young girls predicament, forcing the bad man to give them the initial ransom payment, why did he arbitrarily kill the equally young girl who was initially kidnapped. (Oh, that's right, he actually knew he was killing the bad man's daughter because Marlon was one of the architects of the kidnapping.) But why then was Marlon so surprised when the murder took place. As a co-conspirator he also must have known where his daughter was from the very beginning. Why then was he so bent out of shape since he knew his daughter was going to be released once the ransom was paid. (He also played dumb to the camera even when no one was around to observe his 'act'. Why? Well actually that's because director Morales didn't think it through.) We never see the cop affect an arrest and free the daughter after he hears a gun shot near the end. Kind of an important scene to show, don't you think? Finally, though there's plenty more, we have to assume that the bad guy, after finding his by now putrid dead child in the back of the car (in the Phillipines; sub tropic temperatures and very humid), will notify the police of this and an autopsy will show that she died days before. Remember, he confessed to his crimes, for which I'm sure he'll be arrested and imprisoned, gave up his career and lost his wife and fortune. Wouldn't he at least insist, since he has nothing left to lose, on finding out the truth? Remember that for all his depravity he deeply loved her. But finding out that she had been killed days earlier would lead to Marlon being arrested and hopefully for this viewer, sent to prison for 30 years. The autopsy would show that Marlon had to be lying about everything. (What a gutless creep he turned out to be.) Then there's the money Marlon gives to some black market organ seller. Where in god's name did he get the money from? I'll grant you this: Morales knows how to compose a scene, get fine performances from the actors and knows how to add music and edit. But the story itself? Not thought out and sub-amateurish.

JoeKulik Ron Morales' Graceland (2012) is a very well executed, and very complex film that doesn't fit neatly into one of the simple pigeon holes of "genre".This film is certainly a "crime thriller" that will keep you emotionally "on the edge of your seat" all the way through. The crime narrative is rather innovative too, with lots of unexpected twists.Yet, because this film is set in the Philippines, the filmmaker is offered a unique opportunity to concurrently create an effective "social criticism" film about life in a desperately poor, and undeveloped nation as well. This filmmaker creates much social criticism by skillfully framing certain select scenes that silently speak volumes of social criticism simply because the images portrayed would be just morally outrageous to the average viewer.This film is also a very deep, and insightful character study of the protagonist, a very poor, and very uneducated man, but a man who seems to have a good heart, and solid moral values, but yet a man who must compromise himself on a daily basis by committing unspeakable acts every day, just as a matter of course, for the physical, and economic survival of himself and his family.The most unique aspect of this film for me was the stunning coup de theatre near the end of the film, that made it necessary for me to reinterpret the whole story up to that point, to formulate a new answer to the question: "What is going on in this film?" for myself. As mentally and emotionally unsettling as this sudden revelation of facts about the story was for me so close to the end of the film, it was a very interesting, and very refreshing, and unique film viewing experience for me as well.Overall, I would say that Ron Morales is a very good filmmaker, with a real grasp on what it takes to make not only a film with artistic merit, but a film that is commercially viable as well. This filmmaking neophyte really deserves the opportunity to make many more films.

yfguitarist GRACELAND is a watchable, well-made crime thriller, but the similarities to Park Chan Wook's SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE were distracting.Spoilers ahead: Both films feature a man who, after being fired by his boss, decides to kidnap his boss' daughter to help pay for his sick loved one's organ transplant. The kidnappings don't go according to plan (what kidnappings do?) and one of the two abducted schoolgirls dies. Both films also feature shady organ dealers and of course the revenge theme. There are enough changes in the story to make it interesting in its own right though.End of Spoilers While SYMPATHY had stunning cinematography, GRACELAND was shot on hand-held DSLR video and it shows. It is what it is due to the low budget, but I think it's worth mentioning.It felt a lot longer than it was, but held my attention nonetheless. The violence is sudden and raw and the always changing story is intriguing. The acting was okay, although watching the main character cry in almost every scene was tiring. There are a couple scenes of underage nudity that felt unnecessary and exploitative.Overall it wasn't a waste of time. GRACELAND is passable, highly derivative entertainment, if you're in the mood for a bleak noir-ish crime thriller filled with repellent characters.

kosmasp The story is very strong and the visuals accompany the whole thing very nicely. Unfortunately the script is not as strong. I guess you could also blame the actors a little bit for not being totally convincing (though the "father" himself and a few other characters are really good too) through the whole movie.It's more than gritty and people will either like it for the fact (and award more points than me) or dislike it, because of its nature. The camera does suggest and gives a documentary feeling. If only they had concentrated on the things that make this movie strong, it would have a greater impact (it already has, but there could be more).