BlazeLime Strong and Moving!

UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Brainsbell The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

jotix100 Antonio, a Basque terrorist, commits the ultimate error of any man in his position: he falls in love! It proves to be a fatal misjudgment in his part because he attracts the police's attention that are not looking for him. As with other men that thought they knew it all, Antonio doesn't count that Charo and her friends will be his own downfall.Charo, a young prostitute and substance abuser, also falls for the handsome Antonio. She has no idea about what he does. She is under the impression he is a photo journalist who happens to live next door to her and Vanessa's apartment. Antonio, working with two accomplices have been planning a car bomb explosion at the police headquarters. Everything goes according to plan, except that Antonio's emotions get in the way at the end.Imanol Uribe directed this emotional film that takes the viewer to see, first hand, how the terrorists operate. Mr. Uribe also understands the low lives that deal in drugs and and the users. He mixes all of them in a film that shows some raw emotion in telling the story.Carmelo Gomez does an outstanding job as Antonio. Javier Bardem, who was not as well known then is perfect as Lisardo, the junkie. Ruth Gabriel is a beautiful young actress who is not afraid to bare it all for the camera. Candela Pena is also good as Vanessa. Karra Ejalde and Elvira Minguez are seen in minor roles.Give this film a try because the talented Mr. Uribe delivers.

monk_venkman Dias Contados (Running Out of Time) is a movie about love, lust, desire, hate, death, and regret, that takes place in Madrid, Spain. Antonio (Carmelo Gomez) is in town with two others on personal business. Charo (Ruth Gabriel) and Vanessa (Candela Pena) are two roommates with a laundry list of issues. Lisardo (Javier Bardem) is a local junkie. Portugues (Chacho Carreras) is a drug dealer trying to evade the cops. Lourdes (Elvira Minquez) is one of Antonio's companions to Madrid, who loves him far more than she gets in return. Throw in a husband of Charo getting out of jail, and edgy cops trying to bust Portugues; and you have an amazing movie that should've gotten much more attention here in the states. The performances in this film are much better than most you see by actors who receive far more attention. Especially Ruth Gabriel, who gives one of the most memorable performances by a young actress (18 or 19) I've seen. Carmelo Gomez is a leading man who should be a household name here, and would be if we respected international films, the same way they do ours. They both give Oscar worthy performances in a film that will definitely leave an impression on you. Recommended for those who liked Dirty Pretty Things, or 21 grams.

movieworm Touching the terror topic in Spain (maybe all around the world these days after Sept 11) is somehow dangerous. Uribe probably knows this and thus focuses the plot on human relationships presenting two different character types: joint by marginality we can find an ETA activist (Carmelo Gómez) going to Madrid to prepare a bomb attack and, on the other hand, a group of really marginal characters that represent the lowest class and conditions in a big metropolis such as Madrid; a couple of prostitutes (Ruth Gabriel and Candela Peña)and an incredibly played junkie called Lisardo(in according to my opinion best role ever played by the now worldwide famous Javier Bardem). Apart from the fact that the plot of the movie is well sketched and the characters quite credible (although Carmelo Gómez's character is probably not as well presented as the rest), this movie is worth-a-watch just for Bardem himself. After this, any of Bardem films are interesting, but none of his performances were better than this.

gerardo-5 An ETA member comes to the city of Madrid to commit some terrorists actions, there he will start a relation with a prostitute addicted to the heroine. This love will overlap his mission and will involucrate him in other problems. The story is about an ETA activist, but it's not an story about ETA. It's a thriller about heterogenous relationships and non-hopes; because none of the characters have any future.