600 Miles (2016)

Boring

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

It is quite understandable to see ratings for this movie score from top to bottom. Yes, it is slow and there are scenes where frankly nothing happens (only in the viewer's cerebral reckoning). The use of Spanish/English dialogue is not too much of a success. Hand-held camera photography and some grainy texture to this remind one more of a documentary than conventional film. And the point of the mirror scene with its homosexual connotations is not all that obvious especially when it is not tied to any ensuing character or plot development.And of course the ending, which has been revealed on reviews elsewhere,is completely unacceptable to viewers. And the continued dialogue as the end credits roll is anathema to many. So yes, the disparaging reviews and low ratings come as no surprise.There are saving graces however. The performances, not just of the principals, are very good. Tim Roth is excellent as one might expect. And most interesting was the portrayal of Arnulfo and Carson who really came across as barely kids out of their teens, their boyishness amply displayed by the horseplay in which they engaged. Arnulfo's attempts at playing tough from the outset are in stark contrast to his whimpering, sobbing behaviour towards the film's end.A further plus to be garnered from this movie is the way in which the 'baddies' are portrayed. Those involved in gun-running are no stereotypes villains in the Hollywood sense, but nonetheless capable of sudden violence. The scene in Arnulfo's uncle's kitchen is a highlight of the film as events move from the mundane (washing up and clearing the table) to murderous violence.Overall, I would still recommend this movie despite its shortcomings. Potentially this could have appealed to a wider audience and quite possibly have deserved to be Mexico's official entrant to the Oscar's best Foreign Film category.

First of all, the sound quality was awful and by sound quality I mean diction. The Spanish was so bad that it barely qualifies as that language. I just didn't feel like trying to understand every word of some ignorant street urchin and I doubt any Spanish speaker outside of northern Mexico could understand much of what the kid was saying. His English was worse and although this may be realistic it doesn't really play well in a film in which dialogue is so important. Diction classes would have been a wise pre-shooting decision.There just isn't enough here for a movie. I liked the look into America's ultra-creepy gun culture and this is something we really need to examine more thoroughly. The fact that a teenager can walk into a gun show and walk out with enough fire power for a small war is nothing but creepy. The people buying these weapons in Mexico are thoroughly evil and the narcos' death cult is probably second only to ISIS on the list of ghoulish human activities.In the end not much of a script and with very little to say.

I saw this film at the Minneapolis St. Paul international film festival and I have to say even though it was tense, I thoroughly enjoyed it. This is a though-provoking film that makes you take a deeper look at gun control and tensions between the US and Mexico.I love Tim Roth, and think he does an excellent job in this slower paced drama. This is definitely not an action packed film, and the dramatic tension is led up to over the course of the film. Tim Roth's character does an excellent job bringing an understated but poignant performance.While I don't agree with some parts of the film, I found that it laid out the complexities of this issue in a very human way. This film is definitely packed with tension and emotion as we are taken through not just a journey of guns and drug cartels but of human character.

The son of Mexico's prominent filmmaker Arturo Ripstein, makes a debut like a few, with a big cinematic crime thriller that talks about humanity and it's advantages and disadvantages through the smallest workers of each band, the one of the crime (a Mexican drug cartel) and the one from the justice (ATF), showing that none of them are evil or good, they are just acting from their human behavior. There is not a big plot and a big twist, as it more focused on it's principle themes, the film shows an agent that get caught in a nasty situation when a young criminal he is following gets to apprehend him and the relation they create in a long travel the criminal has to do to show him to his boss. That's it, the interesting part is how the director takes this simple actions to go further, approaching the substance of his film with delicate affection. With a calm rhythm and performances well directed (Tim and Krystian develop and incredible chemistry), this film gets to the point it is looking for. The cinematography is clean, very natural. Maybe it is not for everyone and less the mainstream audience but it will keep them in their sits with a couple good but breve shootouts as it is no intention to look for an action flick position. Deep, meaningful and beautiful. One of the best films Mexico produced this year.