Starring Tilda Swinton
Directed by Erick Zonca
When your life is shit, why not do something that, although it may be even shittier, may allow you to rise up out of the muck a little?
That's essentially the question asked by Julia, a middle-aged alcoholic, just fired from her job, and facing a dead end in her life. At an AA meeting, she meets the delusional Elena (Kate del Castillo) who was married to a rich entrepreneur. Once they divorced, her husband took her son away from her and Elena longs to get him back. She enlists the help of Julia to kidnap her son and promises to pay her a substantial fee for her services. Julia, sensing an even greater opportunity, decides that she'll help Elena, but will then kidnap the boy herself, holding him for ransom and getting an even bigger payday. Unfortunately, the perfect crime never tends to go perfectly.
Tilda Swinton is onscreen in every scene here and she is something to see. Playing drunk is a difficult thing -- it oftentimes comes off as simply silly, but Swinton is spectacular. She plays a strong, very "unfeminine" woman , but there are moments where the loving, matronly side comes out that help to create a fully balanced character here. She's aided by a great performance from Kate del Castillo as the seriously deranged Elena -- a desperate mother clinging onto unlikely hopes and dreams.
The only qualm about this movie is that the story falters a bit in the third act, running on a little too long and taking the focus a bit too much off of Julia and her struggles. That being said, even though the film runs for nearly two-and-a-half hours and is a strongly character-based piece, it never gets boring. There is tension here throughout. A very impressive turn from director Erick Zonca in what appears to be his first English language film.
Definitely check this one out...it's currently streaming on Netflix in case anyone has that capability.
The RyMickey Rating: B+
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