Sin Nombre (2009)

Excellent but underrated film

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Sin Nombre was a very interesting film to watch. I haven't viewed many foreign films before, but I found this one very compelling. I thought all of the actors did a great job, and I loved how some of the characters weren't even actors. I was confused a little during the story. They never explained why Sayra, a Honduran girl who is fleeing to America with her family, makes the journey. I know that most immigrants who journey to America do so to find a better life, but the movie never explained if Sayra even had a bad life. Overall, I thought that it was a phenomenal movie, and even though I do not speak Spanish, I could clearly understand what everyone was saying. It was a powerful movie and I recommend it. It is not for the faint of heart though, but the story is so compelling it just makes you want to continue watching.

Sin Nombre, a movie which has rightfully received the Sundance Film Award twice, is an emotional movie that navigates the troubles facing gang members and immigrants. Director Cary Fukunaga provides a movie that helped remove certain stereotypes that I have held including the struggle of immigrants trying to reach America. Sin Nombre is an excellent movie choice for students looking to learn more about the struggles of immigrants and the overwhelming hold that Mexican gangs play in their communities. From the violent role of Mexican gangs to the abuse of immigrants by locals, Sin Nombre is an excellent movie. Casper, the main character, is part of a local gang who are at constant war with another. Casper helps initiate a youngster nicknamed Smiley into the gang. In order to join the gang, Smiley must kill a prisoner that belongs to the other gang. Along bumps with lying and deception, Casper is sent to leave town and help hold immigrants up for money, where he saves a girl named Sayra and her family from the wrath of his gang. After seeking refuge among Sayra and her family, Casper decides to leave them in order to prevent them from being hurt by the gang, but the in-love Sayra falls him off the train and away from her family. While dodging border control and the gang who are out for his head, Casper leads Sayra to the border where he ultimately meets his maker. Sayra safely makes it across the border where she connects with her family in New Jersey. Despite the overwhelming hardships that Casper endured throughout the movie, it was still very enjoyable due to the intensity of his situation.Throughout the movie, my personal stereotypes that I had on immigrants and Mexico in general changed and opened my mind through this cinema. Sin Nombre does a very good job at portraying these difficulties, and I would highly recommend watching it.

After watching El Norte (a great film, by the way), I wanted to find more films about an immigrant's journey to the U.S. Upon finding Sin Nombre, I wanted to like it. I was determined to watch it with an open mind and a serious attitude . . . and the movie turned out decent, for the most part, but something essential was missing.Soul.Before tagging me as "sentimental" and skipping the rest of my review, understand that a film about people's suffering needs well developed characters who truly embody the reality they represent. Sayra did not. I found her and a couple other characters to be not quite believable. Their struggles were obviously seen from an outsider's perspective who only detailed the violence, and not even the full violence. I felt alienated watching this film, a feeling I didn't get whilst watching El Norte. El Norte had its share of plot holes, but it delivered in terms of emotional impact. It made me truly care. This film showed the violence, but forgot to treat its characters as actual people.The movie also came off as a typical thriller. Good guys, bad guys, bad guy gone good, etc. Where is the life? I wanted something that explored the emotional journey more. The cinematography and music are top notch, and the tattoos were a nice touch. However, this film did not seem genuine. It seemed very fabricated. The actors themselves were believable. It was the script that put me off.However, I did really enjoy seeing the journey of the youngest major character of the film. It was chilling to think about.

One thing that pulled my ratings down for this film is that the plot structure contains too many clichéd elements that don't seem to fit well with everything else. However, even with that taken into account, the movie did not disappoint too much fortunately, because its focus was on the smaller puzzles that make up the lives of the communities in question, rather than the lovey-dovey/gangster glorification/unneeded sense of insecurity/'bad boy' elements that are seen too much in movies nowadays.The director did present fruitful details resulting from extensive research of living with these subjects, whether on top of a train or in the midst of a cold inner empire of the gangsters. the REsult, A much more penetrative, underside view on the effects of poverty in a Latin community unseen in other movies, which typically lack the courage to be that direct. That is the beauty of this movie.