The meek shall inherit the Earth!
Jeffery Mingo | Homewood, IL USA | 10/17/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This will reverse your pre-conditioned beliefs about who is the bad guy and who is the good.
Wearing my PC hat, this is an anti-ableist film. Instead of joining the millions of films that make the disabled look bad, this film has a mentally-challenged man as its hero. Disability rights advocates may want to spread the word on this film.
Politics aside, this film is incredibly sexy. It has female and male nudity, back and front. It takes place in a taboo environment. I would love for US filmmakers to make films like this and be inspired by this Spanish example.
I rented this film on a fluke and had a serendipitous experience!"
Lolita's Club
Manuel Avila | Miami, Florida USA | 03/10/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"After watching this movie I was surprised with the great quality of films produced original in spanish. The movie is well directed, all the elements perfectly match with the plot. Eduardo Noriega and Flora Martinez give an exceptional performance. Great story line with a surprised ending. A must see!
"
Excelent film
Federico | 04/06/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Actor Eduardo Noriega plays a fantastic dual role as twin brothers,one
a policeman the other mentaly disturbed,who fall in love with the same prostitute.I found it very entertaining . Flora Martines as always is beautiful and plays an excelent roll as the twin brothers lover.
A bit tragic at the end. I highly recomend this movie."
Solid film with a surprise ending
Tim Withee | Los Angeles, CA | 03/28/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is a pretty good movie. Set in Spain, Eduardo Noriega plays dual roles as identical twin brothers, Raul, a tough guy cop on suspension, his life in disarray and his identical twin Valentin, a mentally challenged, but very nice who guy works at a strip club/whorehouse as an errand boy in their hometown. Valentin is in love with Milena, a hard-bitten prostitute from Colombia who works in the club and is played by Flora Martinez. Milena, deeply in debt to the mafia, is into heroin (snorts it) and is clearly on the downside of her career in the sex trade. Despite all that, she's still beautiful and very popular with the clientele of the club. In addition, she actually loves Valentin who treats her with great tenderness.
Raul is thinking about a scheme to expose the sex trade mafia in Spain -- who he's in trouble with -- and returns home to serve out his suspension and gather information about the local strip club. He finds out his brother works there and is appalled that he's in love with a prostitute, despite his mental condition and dedication to his job as a cook and errand boy.
There's more, of course, but why give it away here?
Noriega and Martinez give very solid performances. I was impressed with Martinez in "Rosario Tijeras," and she shines in her role in this film. Martinez has the ability to add great complexity to her character and she doesn't hold back in this film. She's a beautiful, talented actress who deserves roles that could elevate her career to a high level. Noriega showed that he's a very versatile actor, playing two very different characters in the same film. His tough guy role had menace, ruthlessness and presence and his nice guy role required sensitivity and nuance. The supporting cast is very good as well. I think the story was credible and the director, Vicente Aranda, did a good job with it.
There's plenty of sex and occasional gunplay in this film, which due to the nature of the film is to be expected. If you're a fan of either Flora Martinez or Eduardo Noriega, you won't be disappointed. Definitely worth a look if you like this type of film. Four Stars."