Why so much hype?

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

This movie follows a kidnapping in Columbia.If you want a look at Cartagena Columbia this movie has some value but as entertainment the movie has so many problems.First the good which is related to the bad....there is lots of effort at creative and interesting camera work: angles surprises etc which is really fun and beautiful at times but things like the ratatatat sequences of images becomes rapidly irritating and are done too much. Also I found the symbolism heavy handed or actually funny as right before the cop and his car get demolished and you see buzzards circling. All the religious imagery is excessive and kind of a turn off it lowers the intellectual bar a lot.The acting is so so at best...lots of pretty men and an ugly lead woman.The flashbacks are irritating and excessive disrupting the story and any kind of rapport you might feel for the characters exactly the opposite of what it is supposed to do. I laughed at the reviewer who said he expected to see a flashback of the soccer ball being manufactured. This flash back technique made the story very hard to follow. I didn't even realize it was the girlfriend who shot him I was so confused by the end of the movie. And when you can't follow you get bored fast.This movie could have been saved by lots and lots of editing and cutting out the flashbacks as the way of telling the story.I love Columbian movies for the scenery and the handsome actors but this one is a trial to get through.Although insignificant compared to the above problems... the subtitles are translated with artistic license e.g. gente innocente (innocent people) becomes "people caught in the crossfire"...and every other explicative is maricon (fag) which is never translated as that but rather "stupid" "idiot" etc... Although this is an improvement.'El Infierno' a Mexican social commentary dry comedy on this very same nightmare situation of social anarchy and killing from drug money is a far better movie. Watch it instead.DO NOT RECOMMEND

The Colombian Jose Gutierrez (Roberto Urbina) leaves his girlfriend in USA and travels to Colombia to visit his parents Carlos (Tony Plana) and Marta Gutierrez (Alejandra Borrero). Jose meets his former passion, Luiza (America Ferrera), and they date and go to a night-club. Then Jose is abducted and a group asks for ransom to his father, who is the manager of a bank. The insurance company does not honor the contract and Carlos seeks the help of KNRC, a company specialized in abductions and ransoms, and with the powerful drug dealer Umberto Pompeo (Fernando Solórzano). A commando seeks the kidnappers while a carrier heads to the Buena Fortuna Street to deliver the ransom money. Will Jose Gutierrez be rescued on time?"Hacia la Oscuridad" is a film with a messy non-linear story with terrible camera work and edition. The plot has the intention to show how dangerous is the life in Colombia but neither the story nor the screenplay are good. The action of Luiza is absolutely unreasonable and incoherent giving a ridiculous twist in the plot. The car chase is awfully filmed and edited and the boring flashbacks break the tension of the lead story. My vote is three. Title (Brazil): "A Um Passo da Escuridão" ("At One Step from the Darkness")

Being a fan of "Man on Fire," I decided to check out this film produced by and starring America Ferrera ("Ugly Betty") to expose the problem of kidnapping in Columbia. She says, "The rate in Colombia is awful. More than one person a day is kidnapped there." It is not just a problem in Columbia, but in many places in the World.Roberto Urbina (Che: Part One) as Jose is the victim, and spends his time thinking about his ex-girlfriend Luiza (America Ferrera). Of course, the film flashes back and forth from real time to the time of the kidnapping.Jose is not too smart. He sees some thugs in a bar that earlier pulled a gun on him on the football field, and he stands there downing shot after shot. Did Luiza set him up? He sure wasn't sober enough to see it coming.It did have a great car chase when Charlie (David Sutcliffe), the ex-FBI agent helping to deliver the ransom steals a car after getting stuck in traffic.An interesting film on the subject, but didn't set me on fire.

Wow, that's this director's FIRST film? I'm shocked. Felicitades!During the car chase scene I was on my feet yelling "HURRY!!!!!!!" at the top of my lungs. The tension and suspense is sublime. Very nice twist ending. A director once said, "give the audience 1 plus 1 and they'll figure out two" and this director did just that. Except I never saw that ending coming.Devil's mask scene and commentary about "buying your way out of hell" was perfectly placed. The bank manager father is excellent in his role. Nice cemetery scene, and interesting director's comments about the gunfire that actually occurred while making that scene. Backstory of former FBI agent was poignant; his desperation in the chase scene was palpable but not overdone. I'm not sure why the ransom money was left blowing around ... wouldn't the police have made sure it was all tidily collected? It was fascinating to watch the bare-bones "short" (on special features,) and to marvel at the masterpiece that was born OUT of that short.