Emotionally damaged

Park City

Just got out of the Trade screening. Think it's safe to say it'll be awhile before I'm fully recovered from the experience. The film is phenomenally good. Great performances, excellent cutting, great photography and great attention to detail. The subject matter, however, definitely leaves you reeling. It's incredibly powerful and heart wrenching. God... what else can I say other than that it's a film you'll never forget. Just know what you're getting yourself into before seeing it. This is not a film for those unwilling to loose themselves in a dark, sinister and very real (the film's story is based closely on real life) world.

Now that I've filled a good chunk of space with drivel over how awesome and disturbing the film was, I'll go into a bit more detail on the story itself. The film takes place in Juarez, Mexico - a city know for crime and human trafficking. A young girl of 13 is abducted and her brother, Jorge, already doing petty theft from tourists, tracks her down through several levels of international organized crime to discover that she's been abducted for sale into sexual slavery. He manages to follow her trail across the border into the United States where he unites with an insurance fraud investigator (who we later learn has a personal connection to the story, played by Kevin Kline). Together they hatch a plan to save Jorge's sister and crush at least those immediately involved in her abduction. I realize I'm making this sound like an overblown Denzel Washington movie (ala Man on Fire), but trust in that this is not your typical big-budget "let's be really cliché, kill the baddies and blow shit up" Hollywood film. It's done with a lot of intelligence, sensitivity and polish that really bring the story to an almost-too-real reality.

Lionsgate is releasing the film wide on April 13th for those of you interested in checking this out.