Trade of Innocents (2012)

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

So glad to see a film exposing the reality of child trafficking. Much more relaxing and comfortable(?) to go and watch the Desolation of Smaug but this is about the desolation of children and you need to see it. Thought Mira Sorvino did a great job as the mother trying to cope with the overwhelming horror of seeing children being destroyed by greed, both sexual and monetary, this was well portrayed. However I had a problem with the role that Dermot Mulroney played (not his acting - he's good) in that he came across as the arrogant American. I really wish the scriptwriter had gone for a different approach here as the movie has been given world-wide release and people are rather over the "I know better than you do, I'm American" type of persona. I would have gone and worked with someone else if I'd been the Aussie! I just wish that someone now would do a film about closing down the market from a different angle. This was about stopping the "product" being available but what about a film wiping out the revolting "purchasers"? No buyers, no market. Great acting by Trieu Tran, John Billingsley and the children.

Trafficking is a severe theme that has inspired a lot of good movies. This is, I'm afraid not one of them. Both Mulroney and Sorvino are able to deliver great acting, but here they struggle a bit, as many before them have done in films which doesn't have a well written script. This film struggles with the script, as quite naive, and then it's also difficult to give good instructions by a director. Then if the director isn't top notch, then there's lots of possibilities of a film going stale.The premise of this is OK, but this film has several problems. A bad script, some bad acting, the switching of languages, well I guess that's enough, but the director isn't the best either. The things are told in a bad narrative way, and to obvious storytelling, with too many strange coincidences. The filming techniques are far from the best, as well, though not the worst here though. Therefore this goes wrong.We meet a married couple working in Kambodia. He is working with revealing sex trade with Kambodian children. Having lost their own daughters years ago, makes this even harder for the couple. Go watch the similarly themes great films "Trade", "Human trafficking", "Lilja 4-ever" or "Crossing over" instead. They are all recommended on this subject. Unlike this film, they will grab your heart, and learn just as much as this is trying to do.The best about this film, is they you might learn something of what this trade is all about. Though I'm afraid you might be bored while watching. Too bad, since I can see many here tried their best.

At the film website, three awards were won at the Breckenridge Festival of Film, Best of the Fest Drama, Best Director, 2nd Place People's Choice and two other awards. This shows that this film is recognized as exposing an ugly truth that some would rather not hear about.I did not like the facts presented but enjoyed this film because it dramatically portrayed the problem of porn prostitution of young girls in certain countries like Cambodia. It makes us all aware of the problem that most do not know.The film presents the point of view of the parents of these horrendously treated young girls and the tragic exploitation of them for sex. I was not aware of this before. I also discovered that yes, it occurs right here in Canada and I am sure other places in North America.This movie points out that situation and makes those who care, aware. There are always some who do not care about anyone but themselves.The film keeps you occupied and drawn compassionately into the lives of the characters as if you were there as a reluctant observer wanting to help but trapped by being on the wrong side of the screen.There is something you can do.

This could have been so much better if they had found some actors that could actually "ACT" Dermot Mulroney and Mira Sorvino could have been replaced by two planks of wood and no one would have noticed the difference.The Asian villain over acted his heart out! He never gave up, like a cornered rat he put up a fight.The subject matter was never going to be an easy one to deal with, however, it was over simplified and put together like something from a Christian NGO workshop training video.One really annoying thing about it other than the two main actors was the jumping between subtitles when the actors were "speaking Khmer" or whatever it was they were speaking and then the same actors talking in English for some reason. They should have just left it one way or the other.Certainly not the worst movie around, but pretty poor mainly due to the pathetic script and bad acting.