fanaticita
Having only seen Eric Roberts in two films: Pope of Greenwich Village, and King of the Gypsies, I have to say I'm hooked!!! Why Robert isn't a star in the full sense of the word, I'll never know. La Cucaracha was brilliant, taking "Warren" through a journey of self-discovery with a little help along the way. The use of "magical realism" made some moments in the film puzzling to Norteamericano audiences, I'm sure -like how he survived the shooting or the drowning. Suspend belief, folks! I loved the various genres: film noir, dark comedy, etc. And this was clearly Eric Robert's film. He was entirely believable from the opening scenes throughout to the end. Robert has one of those faces that conveys everything. If it's true that the eyes are the mirror of the soul then his performance confirms that belief.The most comical lines are juxtaposed with tragic events: "Why is everybody so nuts???!" One of my favorite lines in the film.For all Eric Robert's fans. . .this is a must!! See it!
adolph70
Eric Roberts and Joaquim de Almeida. Great actors. This movie has that cool Mexican atmosphere that was apparent, albeit in a different tone, in Desperado, the film that opened my eyes to Joaquim de Almeida.After first viewing, the film seems merely average and sort of lost in little details, but once one goes back to delve deeper into its content, we see a film that can be simply interpreted as a character study, that of Eric Roberts. In that, it is most excellent.If you take the film as that, you will enjoy it immensely. However, if you're expecting a true structure of a film with a solid, moving plot, well then perhaps you may be let down by this one. Whatever, I liked it.
BriGuY-1
All in this was a pretty good film. There were definitely several highlights worth mentioning, namely the solid direction, great filming, Eric Robert's performance, and a unique plot. However, there were two main flaws that forced me to give this movie a 6.5. *****SPOILER***** First of all, Roberts should never have survived that shooting. Did this not bother anyone else? How often do people like Mcmanus's Louis "wipe out" a witness and just assume they are dead. Realistically Roberts would have received a final third bullet just to make sure that he wasn't going anywhere. Secondly, the dialogue was very inconsistent. Although, sharp and funny at times, it became almost silly and unrealistic at others.However, despite these two things the movie was still worth seeing, although it could have been much, much, better if only a few small yet important changes were made.
bainst
LA CUCARACHA (1998) is an original, intelligent dark-comedy that sneaks up on you and gets under your skin. It was the winner in many of the film festivals of 1998. Eric Roberts gives the performance of his life as a snivelling, weak, drunken coward that finds redemption; a part that should have broken him out of his B-movie status, if not for the industry fumbling in the movie's distribution.It is a moral play, delineating the human ability to rise above our animal instincts. It begins, as most Great Films do, with a tone and pace that could take the story in any direction, and once its tone of "dark comedy" is set, it remains consistent throughout. Instead of leaping into an easily recognizable formula, it takes its time to set up the character of our protagonist (all of the characters in this film are written, portrayed and presented so well, one wonders if it weren't written fifty years ago, when dialogue in a film actually mattered).There is horror and tragedy within the story, but it is never gratuitous nor glorified.If you love great dialogue; if you love great character development and motivation; if you love great direction and timing; if you long for the days when there were actually good, solid, meaningful stories; do yourself a favor and FIND THIS MOVIE.
AD
