Stephen Rea is at it again, with the IRA I mean, and the beginning prison break scene is non-stop action, which continues for the whole film. The violent breakout with his pal Richard (Brendan Gleesan) leads him to break all ties and land in NYC circa 1996. He gets a job washing dishes and works with Tulio (Alfred Molina), gets involved with his sister Monica (Rosana Pastor), and ends up helping them take out a Guatemalan death squad commander who's funded by the CIA.
Well I have to say this was a refreshing alternative film, a bit of underground New York, a bit of Leftist Latino bent, a bit of the Shamrock. Really I prefer this to the Crying Game. In that we have a real good first sequence with Forest Whittaker, the best actor of the film dies in the beginning, and then it's all anti-climax. Here we get the unique mixing of an Irish-Guatemalan relationship, a sleazy NYC hotel sequence, the Midnight Cowboy type alienation of a man alone in New York, and the great Alfred Molina (We've seen him as an Iranian, a Greek,now a Guatemalan...and he's British to boot.)
So overlook the flaws of the film and enjoy it for what it is. The only real flaws are that some things are disturbingly unexplained: Why was Rea a prisoner to begin with, The Guatemalan Death squad thing in the post-cold war Clinton era, and what was up with that chick in the hotel?! Finally, does Stephen Rea remind you of Bob Geldof in The Wall or what!
Well I have to say this was a refreshing alternative film, a bit of underground New York, a bit of Leftist Latino bent, a bit of the Shamrock. Really I prefer this to the Crying Game. In that we have a real good first sequence with Forest Whittaker, the best actor of the film dies in the beginning, and then it's all anti-climax. Here we get the unique mixing of an Irish-Guatemalan relationship, a sleazy NYC hotel sequence, the Midnight Cowboy type alienation of a man alone in New York, and the great Alfred Molina (We've seen him as an Iranian, a Greek,now a Guatemalan...and he's British to boot.)
So overlook the flaws of the film and enjoy it for what it is. The only real flaws are that some things are disturbingly unexplained: Why was Rea a prisoner to begin with, The Guatemalan Death squad thing in the post-cold war Clinton era, and what was up with that chick in the hotel?! Finally, does Stephen Rea remind you of Bob Geldof in The Wall or what!