Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that while this subtitled caper film is warm-hearted and doles out plenty of lessons -- for starters, don't prey on the disenfranchised and don't forget your roots -- it's still about a gang of thieves stealing from someone (even if he is a despicable lowlife). In a Robin Hood way, the movie (like the Ocean's series) glamorizes what's essentially a criminal undertaking, and tweens may not grasp the nuances. In addition to the somewhat salty language (including one "f--k" and the other usual suspects), there are some fairly brutal scenes, especially toward the end, when a man is violently beaten. Characters also make ends meet by stealing (pirating videos and helping themselves to other people's pocket change).
Families can talk about why heist movies like this one are so appealing. What sets the "good" cons apart from their adversaries? Why does what they're doing seem less bad than other criminal acts? Would it be different if Valdez wasn't such a thoroughly bad guy? How does the film make it seem like there's a clear difference between stealing from the rich who prey on the poor and just stealing? Are the thieves in the right or wrong? Does Hollywood glamorize crime? If so, what are the consequences of that?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: S. Jhoanna Robledo
In the age of the Brad Pitt-George Clooney-Matt Damon-branded blockbuster, can a heist movie without blindingly bright star wattage succeed? If it's anything like LADRÓN QUE ROBA A LADRÓN (A Thief Who Steals From a Thief), it can. Breezy and charming, this Spanish-language film pleases despite -- or perhaps because of -- the absence of tabloid regulars.
Opening briskly on the set of an infomercial, Ladron quickly establishes the bad guy. And he's bad indeed, a villain that any bleeding heart would happily see suffer (though diehard capitalists may cringe). He's Valdez (Saul Lisazo), an entrepreneur with a too-bright smile who's made millions hawking potions that plainly don't work -- everything from fat blasters to (most abominably), a tonic that claims to cure cancer.
Unbeknownst to him, ex-acquaintance Emilio (Miguel Varoni) has spirited his way into America to exact revenge. Years ago, he and Valdez both apprenticed with a kindly crook with a genius for the con, a man Valdez has long since abandoned. And that's not Valdez's only sin: In Emilio's eyes, Valdez, whose prey includes Latino audiences, has broken an unwritten code -- never go after your own people -- and his time for reckoning has come. Emilio will steal every dollar Valdez has socked away in an underground vault at his mansion. And he'll do it in broad daylight.
But first, he needs a crew, and unfortunately, his usual men aren't available. Trusted sidekick Alejandro (Fernando Colunga) recruits newbie replacements: a valet attendant and his tomboyish mechanic daughter, a construction worker, an out-of-work actor, and a nanny (the luminous Julie Gonzalo). Can they make it work?
It takes plenty of suspension of disbelief to take the movie's heist at face value (too many things have to go exactly right), but director Joe Menendez and screenwriter José Angel Henrickson still manage to entertain. And the cast is fantastic, their rapport refreshingly free of the over-the-top camaraderie that fills the Ocean's movies (both the Clooney and the Sinatra versions).
Still, heist fans may well enjoy Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve, and Ocean's Thirteen, as well as Spike Lee's Inside Man.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentA couple wakes in bed; later, they kiss passionately. Another couple gropes each other in a bathroom. |
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ViolenceNot particularly frequent, but fairly brutal when it happens. In one long scene, Valdez's henchmen beat a man to a pulp (he's later shown spitting up blood); guns are drawn. Early in the movie, Valdez establishes his villain status by menacing an innocent man on the set of an infomercial; he also threatens and hollers a lot. Within the first 15 minutes, there's a close-up of a gun; soon after, a man points it toward Emilio's head. |
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LanguageIn subtitles; one use of "f--k," plus "damn," "a--hole," "ass," and "bastard." |
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Message |
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Social BehaviorThe villain is completely reprehensible, a man who preys on anyone, including the weak and the infirm, to make money. The heist -- while used as a device to send messages about standing up for the disenfranchised and remembering your roots -- is basically a plan to rip off a rich person. One character makes chauvinistic statements about women, which one female character seems to find, confusingly enough, attractive. Also, Alejandro makes a living by pirating movies. |
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CommercialismMercedez Benz; the movie Crash (spelled Crach); the villain makes infomercials and sells products, which are "advertised" in the movie. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoDrinking and some smoking in social circumstances (a big party). |
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