Why so much hype?

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Even trying with all his might the director couldn't make it worse. I know Colombia, and the violence was exaggerated to the point of ridiculousness. How many people did the young guy kill for no big reason? like 10? For god's sake he even kills someone because his lover doesn't enjoy whistlers! In Colombia there are laws and police, and even if ineffective they would catch a killer so emotional and with that high a body count.The protagonist can't be more unlikable, it tries to sound like a philosopher, but ends up sounding like my frustrated literature teacher: complaining about everything but failing to produce good lines himself.Many Latin-American film makers try to capitalize on the stereotype that their country is violent and dangerous. This way, they comply with the foreign moviegoers' expectancies, and fool many critics who pass this implausibility as realism.Moreover, local moviegoers over-praise any movie that comes out of their homeland. I wouldn't be surprised if the current 7.0 score is due to 1000 colombians giving it a ten.

OK,taking an unflinching look at the small value human life seems to have in Medellin through the eyes of Fernando who returns to his home city after 30 years and sees all the ground crime has gained was maybe a good idea to start with. OK, his subsequent encounter with Alexis and the beginning of what seems to be a love story seem to bring some kind of a redeeming quality to these two somehow cursed characters, the first one by his disappointment and disgust for life in general, the second one by the very background he was born in. However, the problem with this on-screen garbage is that these two aspects only serve as an excuse for a fundamentally sleazy and exploitative display of any kind of gratuitous violence, to such a degree that at a certain point, the movie loses all its credibility and value. This happens somewhere in the middle of the movie, when Fernando is arguing with two men in the Medellin underground/subway and literally gets Alexis to kill the two men for NOTHING. It is here that the director starts displaying with great complacency an authentic killing spree that Fernando and Alexis go on during their walks in Medellin. If the whole population of that city acted this way, I think there would be no single living soul out there anymore. And the most pathetic scene is definitely the one with the dog, which both of them seem SO DESPERATE to have to kill. OK, the movie is misanthropic, but this aspect is no way a redeeming quality: after all, the Nazis also preferred animals to the overwhelming majority of mankind. And after that, we have that encounter with Villmar, which is supposed to make us sympathize with Fernando, suggesting that he hasn't after all lost all his humanity and is still capable of forgiving? No, I do not buy it, and I would even add that Mr Schroeder hasn't enough balls to kill the character of Fernando after Willmar's death at the end of the movie. At least, this would have made a point, that is to say that violence had totally prevailed. To sum up, this is only a huge, pointless and nauseating crap.

I just can't agree with all of the positive reviews this film has received. It has the production value of a telenovela, but without the acting chops one might find in even the most vacuous example of the genre. Watching it I felt as if I were watching a bad rip-off of a Genet novel, but one without the poetry and meaning one might find in his work. The violence of the film, while meant to take me to a visceral place, only took me to one where I found myself laughing at it, and I merely ended up wondering if the cast crew weren't as embarrassed by their attempt as I was for them.Sorry, but I want the time spent watching it back.

I'll put in my 2 cents on this flick for what its worth, not that it matters much but it is interesting to see the wide extremes of opinions here. I'm quite oblivious to the situation in Colombia today. I've heard about the casual violence and the kidnappings through news media. As an outsider, I found the film to be some sort of a modern masterpiece. The use of digital video was odd but I felt somewhat closer to the locale. The screenplay was incisive, witty and at the same time displayed the depths of the human condition. Some have noted that the acting of the young boys to be bad and unrealistic. True, they are not thespians by trade but I thought they displayed their reactions and emotions toward the writer very well. If I was in their shoes I would have been taken in by this writer as well. Why not? He is providing me with what I need and at the same time showing me the compassion and wisdom that is lacking around me. I believe wholeheartedly that this is Mr. Schroeder's most personal work. Why else would one risk his life filming it in Colombia? I've seen some of his other works and none come close to this. The irony of this film is that the cinematography shows Colombia to be beautiful beyond words. It makes me want to visit. Maybe I'll be like the writer in the film and go there to die after I have done everything I wanted to in my life. This is an excellent companion piece to 'Maria Full of Grace.' Both films are two of the best to come out of this decade.