Despite containing compelling content about 1980s El Salvador and children in the military, the film's execution is cripplingly standard. If ever a film was genetically engineered to appeal to the Academy's heartstrings for a foreign-language Oscar, it would be this one, a work of tired melodrama and regular composition. For God's sake, the movie is called Innocent Voices. That's a movie title you'd hear in Seinfeld. It's just a bummer because the subject matter deserves more daring treatment.

Drab stuff - it made a large impression on me.