Amores Perros

Over-praised. A contrived and heavy-handed soap opera with an over-reliance on cheap sentiment. And, in spite of what passes for "grittiness", as the film progresses it strays farther and farther from any kind of realism, betraying a falseness that lies at its core. Whatever meagre cleverness is required to interweave a few stories, the result lacks genuine significance, coming across as little more than a calling card to Hollywood who, in their wisdom, did in fact come calling.

Brutal, visceral, gut-wrenching. Very intense film.

The first part of Iñárritus Life sucks-trilogy is also the best one. However it is not the masterpiece everyone says. The film is a long journey through a lot of sad stories. I do not mind tragic tales. But if you do not include some sort of contrasting emotions, the sad parts do not engage. And by the way the connection between the stories is nothing but a gimmick. Just like in Babel it is just a plot tool to combine the different parts.

This movie does not fuck around. Except for that part where the dog is trapped under the apartment floor; it fucked around for a while there. But then it paid that part off well and stopped fucking around again. The movie is brilliantly directed and written, and harsh as hell. I was reminded of Los olvidados at times, even though they're very different films in many respects.

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's beautiful and emotional tale of intertwinable stories on the hard streets of Mexico City is one of the most powerful films of the 00's.