Days of Grace (FILM REVIEW)
Days of Grace
Film Review
by Kam Williams
Mexican Drug War Saga Features Kidnapping, Corruption and Violence
Days of Grace is the title of Arthur
Ashe’s moving memoir about his remarkable tennis career as well as his stoic
battle with AIDS after receiving a contaminated blood transfusion. By contrast,
Days of Grace, the movie, is a gruesome gansta’ saga set in Mexico City.
The intricately-plotted crime thriller takes place in 2002, 2006
and 2010 during the weeks when the World Cup is being played. Apparently,
that’s a great time to break the law, since both citizens and the police are so
focused on the games that they unwittingly lower their guard.
The film is constructed as a trio of discrete storylines, although
all paint Mexico
as a godforsaken environ run by mobsters and crooked cops. Because they unfold
simultaneously instead of chronologically, it’s a little difficult to keep the
casts of characters straight, especially if you don’t speak Spanish and need to
read the subtitles.
One thread revolves around the frustrations encountered by a
socialite (Dolores Heredia) desperate to free her husband (Juan Carlos
Remolina) who’s been abducted for a $2 million ransom. Apparently there’s a lot
of that going around south of the border.
Trouble is the detectives handling the case are so corrupt she’s
even more afraid of them than the kidnappers. A second thread focuses on
another kidnapped businessman’s (Carlos Bardem) ordeal while the third chronicles
the friendship forged between an honest cop (Tenoch Huerta) and the at-risk 9
year-old (Jose Alberto Solorzano) he’s mentoring with tough love.
Written and directed by Everardo Valerio Gout, Days of Grace features
gratuitous violence, graphic vivisection and slo-mo displays of senseless
slaughter reminiscent of such masters of the genre as John Woo and Sam
Peckinpah. If lingering looks at torture gets your juices going, this
indulgence of bloodlust is probably right up your alley.
The best Mexican splatterfest since
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia.
Excellent
(4 stars)
Unrated
In Spanish and English with subtitles
Running time: 121 minutes
Distributor: Cinema
Libre Studio
To see a trailer for Days
of Grace, visit:
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