Crappy film

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

It's a gripping, uncompromising story of the kidnapping, brutalizing, smuggling, and sale of young women and boys, from Mexico into the United States. It's hard to tear yourself away from the screen for fear you'll miss what degradation comes next for the two kidnapees from Mexico City that the story follows -- Alicja Bachleda, a strikingly beautiful young woman, and Paulina Gaitan, a scared thirteen-year-old girl. The latter is the sister of Cesar Ramos, a tough urban teenager. Ramos hooks up with Kevin Kline, whose own daughter disappeared, possibly kidnapped, years ago.The kidnappers' idea is to get the two girls to New Jersey in time for an internet auction at which sex slaves are sold to the highest bidder. Meanwhile, along the highways, the girls are rented out at isolated spots to pervs who use them for as long as it takes to boil an egg. Going rate -- eighty dollars. Gaitan, however, is a virgin and they want to keep her that way because she'll bring a higher price in the Garden State. She is rented out too, but I guess remains what high schoolers call a technical virgin.Kline, a cop, and the vengeful Ramos are in pursuit, not knowing exactly what they're looking for until the contrived ending. The two begin by hating each other but wind up fast friends, naturally. The narrative demands it. The acting is marvelous on the part of just about all the principles. Kevin Kline's performance may be the weakest. He seems almost too tired to be bothered with the role, but maybe resignation is what the role calls for.Best performance -- envelope, please -- the madam who keeps half a dozen young girls locked away in the basement. She's always smiling but, my God, she looks evil. Her high cheekbones and her eyes at their alarming dihedral lend her a resemblance to Morticia Adams, but more -- reptilian. And she delivers delightfully, demanding that Kline, in order to prove he's not a cop, consummate his perverse lust for the thirteen-year old on the spot -- "And I want to see blood on the sheets". I can't find her among the credits -- maybe it's Kathleen Gati but I'm not at all sure.There is no nudity and no simulated intercourse, only the suggestion of them. The story itself is powerful enough to carry the message. But, then, what IS the message? The epilogue claims definitively that the CIA estimates that between 50,000 and 100,000 people are kidnapped and smuggled into the United States, like these two girls. But as far as I can determine, the CIA has made no such estimate. The best the CIA has been able to come up with is 45,000 to 50,000, and not all of them are kidnapped for sexual purposes. The fact is that it's extremely difficult to make a good guess because the data just aren't there.In the 1930s they made innumerable movies about "social problems" like "gangsterism." J. Edgar Hoover warned all of us to be on the lookout for spreading gangsterism in 1950. Or the problem might be reefers or gambling. The drama in this film is tumultuous but maybe what's called for is a dispassionate and reasoned approach. What this film does -- and does very well -- is contribute to the "mean world hypothesis" in which we believe we must live surrounded by scoundrels, enemies, murderers, and sex traffickers. The world isn't really "mean". It's just indifferent.

Trade reviewA Movie That Shows Worldwide ProblemsI thought the movie was good, because a girl gets trafficked and her brother goes out to save her. The acting in the movie was decent because in a scene where Veronica (Alicja Bachleda-Curus) is raped, she didn't struggle as much as someone would in real life. Also in real life, when Jorge (Cesar Ramos) told Ray (Kevin Kline) that his sister had been sold, I don't think that he would help him. Ray told Jorge that he was taking him back and in real life they police would take him back. The police wouldn't care about his sister who had been sold. Also in a scene when they are in the town and the men take Adriana, (Paulina Gaitan) and Veronica, people would have noticed because in the movie nobody notices anything. Overall the movie was good. Even though it didn't have any big actors in the movie besides Kevin Kline, the other actors showed some good acting skills.The directors took their time to find them. Like any other movie, it has its flaws like when Adriana and Veronica escape they didn't do a job because they get recaptured. Also when Jorge finds them and they stop and see's Manuelo ( Marco Perez) taking pictures of his sister Adriana Jorge could have stopped Manuelo and help the people that were captured. But the movie also shows that human trafficking is a big problem in real life and it's all over the world.Spoiler alert

Trade isn't the crime movie you would expect. It is a movie that should give you that gut feeling through most it. It shows just how sick people really are and can be! These two girls are kidnapped, a young boy, Jorge (Cesar Ramos) does his best to get one of the girls ( his sister) back. He gets in the trunk of Ray's (Kevin Klein) car and does his best to get to New Jersey to save his sister, so Ray decides to help him out. Finally, they get to see where Adriana is, and he "buys" her. With the two girls not knowing it, they attempt to run away. When Ray and Jorge ( in the trunk ) goes to meet Manuella Manuelo (Marco Perez), Manuella tells Ray that he has to ride in the car with him. Jorge gets out of the trunk, and follows. When they get to the house, Ray hands Laura (Kate del Castillo) the money and she says that he has to have sex with Adriana before they leave. Manuella comes up to the room to check, and knows they didn't actually have sex. Adriana, touches his hand, and brings up Veronica. He realizes what was going on, and is upset the rest of the time. He goes outside to take them back to Ray's car, and all kinds of cops show up and arrest Laura and Manuella. The cops get Adriana and Jorge a plane back to Mexico and Adriana reunites with her mom with lots of love. Trade was a touching movie, that really touched my heart. Seeing Jorge do everything in his power to get Adriana back was absolutely phenomenal.

Movie SummaryI recently saw the movie Trade, and I thought this movie was pretty good. It shows people what is happening in the this world today with all the human trafficking. This movie has great actors who made the movie very believable. Jorge ( Cesar Ramos) plays as a young boy who is looking for his sister in Mexico was kidnapped by human traffickers. Ray Sheridan (Kevin Kline) plays as a protective cop that is also looking for someone close in Mexico, then stumbles on Ramos and they both gang up to find the young boy's sister. They travel all over the place in Mexico and in America to try to find the young girl named Adriana ( Paulina Gaitán). They found a lot of clues that helped them with their mission of finding the people who kidnapped the young boy's (Cesar Ramos) sister Adriana so they can bring her back home. This movie turns out to be an eye opener into the human trafficking trade. The things I didn't like about the movie was the language. I don't mind the language, because of the young kids they may watch this. The part about this movie that I didn't understand was why didn't the detective, Ray Sheridan finish looking for what he was looking for at the beginning of the movie? Overall that's the two things I didn't like or understand about this movie. The rest of the movie was great. This was probably not one of the best movies I've seen in awhile.