Why so much hype?

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I liked this movie. It's good for washing you off Hollywood stuff once in a while. The camera behavior differs from the habitual and leaves you pondering and doing your own interpretation in a variety of moments. This different take leaves you in the edge of the couch sometimes! It also shows how easy it is for a stupid young man to buy loads of guns and how easy it is for a young man to choose the wrong path.

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.

Review: I've always been a fan of Tim Roth, because he usually puts in great performances, especially when he teams up with Tarantino but this movie was awful. The pace is really slow throughout and there was way to many airy scenes, which had no dialogue and we're completely unnecessary. Roth, who plays federal agent, Hank Harris, is on a case to take down gun traffickers across the US to Mexico border but when he goes to arrest the young driver who is carrying the militant cargo, Arnulfo Rubio (Kristyan Ferrer), his plan is disrupted by his young friend and he ends up being kidnapped by the young driver, who is the main gun runner. As Arnulfo isn't a trained murderer, he takes him to his uncles house, who has bad intentions for Hank, which leads to a showdown which really wasn't that impressive. I won't say anymore about the plot because it will spoil it for people who haven't watched it, not that your really missing anything. The ending was also really disappointing, mainly because there wasn't much closure to the whole film but on the plus side, it's not that long and Roth and Ferrer put in decent performance. I personally was left feeling empty when the film had finished and I doubt that I would watch it again. Disappointing!Round-Up: This is the first movie written and directed by Gabriel Ripstein, who had a decent concept but it just wasn't put together that well. Some of the camera work was pretty amateur and I would have liked to have seen the aftermath of such a dangerous situation. There is a hint of intensity throughout the movie, mainly because the main gun smugglers looked so deadly but apart from that, I did lose interest after a while. I recommend this movie to people who are into their drama/thrillers starring Tim Roth, Kristyan Ferrer, Craig Hensley, Monica Del Carmen, Harris Kendall, Greg Lutz and Harrison Thomas. 2/10

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.