"Man on Fire"

United States/Mexico, 2004
U.S. Release Date: 4/23/04 (wide)
Running Length: 2:12
MPAA Classification: R

Cast: Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, Marc Anthony, Radha Mitchell, Christopher Walken, Giancarlo Giannini, Rachel Ticotin, Jesús Ochoa, Mickey Roarke
Director: Tony Scott
Producers: Arnon Milchan, Tony Scott, Lucas Foster
Screenplay: Brian Helgeland, based on the novel by A.J. Quinnell

So, a couple years back I watched the movie Man on Fire, I thought that I would revisit it for the sake of this blog… I’m glad I did.

John W. Creasy is an ex-CIA assassin (Denzel Washington) who has been hired to protect the daughter of the Ramos family in Mexico City. When Pita (Dakota Fanning) is kidnapped, he vows to seek revenge on all those involved in her disappearance.

The movie is slow in the beginning but is sure to develop all the characters – particularly the relationship between nine-year-old Pita and Creasy – who has, basically given up on life, since being in the CIA. Pita slowly chips away at Creasy, and their friendship begins to grow stronger. Even her school teachers consider Creasy a father figure to the young girl. The film builds when Pita is kidnapped and Creasy sets out to find and kill anyone who was involved. “Revenge is a meal best served cold” he says.

The pace of the film continues to quicken as Creasy desperately seeks out members of “La Hermandad” – a brotherhood of corrupt police in Mexico City. A reporter from the local “Reforma” newspaper, Mariana (Rachel Ticotin) is trying to unveil the workings of this brotherhood. Creasy uses Mariana and her resources to help find the crooked cops as well as other Mexican gang members who were caught up in Pita’s kidnapping. In turn, Mariana uses his leads to expose the inter-workings of “La Hermandad”.

Man on Fire plays out with furious speed and intensely colorful cinematography with a harsh dark edge. Clever use of subtitles draws in its audience as it interweaves between the Spanish and English language.

I really enjoyed this movie for its intense qualities as well as the heartfelt moments. I thought the direction and tone was right on and the artistic detail was riveting.

Personal Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Futher information can be found at iMDB.com

"Fools Rush In"

U.S. Release: 2/14/97 (wide)
Running Time: 1:46
MPAA Classification: PG-13
Cast: Matthew Perry, Salma Hayek, Carlos Gomez, Jon Tenney, Tomas Milian, Jill Clayburgh, John Bennett Perry, Siobahn Fallon
Director: Andy Tennant
Producer: Doug Draizin

Since this is all about movies that have some influence of the boarder, I intend on keeping things light. Because after all, movies are supposed to be entertaining! This past weekend I was scanning through the TV channels and I stumbled upon the romantic-comedy "Fools Rush In". This movie happened to be quite entertaining and also had an ongoing theme of cultural diversity.

Alex Whitman (Matthew Perry), a Manhattan native, and successful - yet some may say, "unexciting" - builder of nightclubs, is located to Las Vegas to oversee the construction of another nightclub. One evening he finds himself at Caesars, running into a beautiful Mexican-American woman who believes in fate. She says, “There is a reason behind all logic to bring us the exact same time and place”. However, neither one believes in one-night-stands – with exception of that night. Alex doesn't hears from her until three months later.

Isabel Fuentes (Salma Hayek) returns to Alex’s home in Las Vegas, pregnant. Isabel is from a strong Catholic family where she believes that she and Alex should be married before the baby is born. Alex on the other hand, is Protestant and happens to fear marriage like the plague. They wind up married on the Vegas strip – as an Elvis impersonator as their witness – and cultures begin to collide. Religion is the main road block throughout the movie, not only between Isabel and Alex, but between their families as well. Their parents are sure to have their say about their children’s relationship, and disagree on everything but their shared dislike of the marriage.

“Fools Rush In” tends to be the cheesy-romance that will still keep your attention. Observing the natural human response to all these twists is sure to generate some wacky comedy. As the movie plays out, we see that even with all these cultural differences, there are the same underlying values between the couple and their families. Overall, I think this movie is fun, light-hearted and entertaining.

Personal Rating: 3 out of 5

Futher information can be found at IMDb.com

Border Movie Review

This blog will consist of film reviews which involve the United States-Mexico border.