Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Catangro After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

rsaltes A movie worth watching more than once to be able to capture important details that may be missed the first time... especially if you are from Venezuela...I felt it accomplished what I think one of its missions was which is to remind those who decide to ignore the cruel and sad reality of a city full of people lost in misery and full of hate for the other group, those who do have... A city full of beautiful things too... The problem is in society and the division among economic social classes... that's the root of the problem... I think it was a well done movie and the cast was great, including the beginners! Great job! Felicitaciones!

jpschapira "Secuestro Express" began as a project for a short. Jonathan Jakubowickz had written a story and Sandra Condito and Elizabeth Avellán, among others, wanted to make it happen. For reasons that don't matter to me, the short became a full-length feature film, the hours became longer, the work became harder… The result makes notorious that it was supposed to be a short, because it runs obligatorily too long. However, it's a total thrill and it keeps your eyes on the screen for its hour and a half. After Jakubowickz made his story longer, the characters took shape, and what could have been a tale of soulless kidnappers, is a glance at human beings who care for their city, even when they do what they do.Jakubowickz' ferocious camera is a representation of the Venezuelan reality; it moves unsure, it accelerates constantly. With guts and courage, the director puts his imagination in motion, and shows to us the two sides of the city; the rich and the poor, the good and the bad, the ones who eat and the ones who can't, the ones who live and the ones who are dying. The Latin American reality is not far from what Jakubowickz presents. In fact, there are thousands of kidnappings like the ones this movie illustrates, every day."Express"; quick, effective and only sometimes successful. The types of persons, who do this; act, dress and talk like the film's kidnapping threesome: Nigga Sibilino, Budú and their leader Trece. Interestingly, this is how these three men call themselves artistically. They are part of a hip-hop band called "3 Dueños". Jakubowickz got to them by listening to their music, and the characters he wrote for them fit perfectly with their personalities; he knows it and they know it.One of the many highlights of this picture is that all the characters are very close to the actors' realities. The three kidnappers come originally from the suburbs, and they didn't have to make an effort for their portrayals; they had it in them. A permanent improvisation is clearly noticeable and it reassures the "reality" of the film. When the three of them grab Martín (Jean Paul Leroux) and Carla (Mía Maestro) and scream: "Don't look at my face", they say it because it works like that.They are not joking with the guns they carry with them, they are not joking when they call Carla's father (the genius Ruben Blades), and they are not joking with the drugs they purchase from Marcelo (Ermahn Ospina), a Colombian and homosexual dealer. The scenes that the movie develops are determined by a voice that announces the time ("5 a.m., in Caracas"). The best moments are the ones you feel connected to, because you identify with them. When they are stopped by the police, for example; and a simple exchange fixes the situation.When Trece talks to Carla about the city and about what's going on. "What's the secret?", she inquires. Trece explains, and you easily realize that Carlos Molina put the most commitment into his character. He achieves something there, there's an emotion felt that Pedro Pérez and Carlos Madera lack. If what the film's doing is leaving a message, I respect it. But that message won't make anyone change, because it takes a lot more in a world like this one.What I can say for sure are two things: "Secuestro Express" is a calling to Venezuelan cinema, these days when it's so difficult to make a complete movie; and it is so real and so true, that you will be scared to be out on the street after watching it.

El Charro As you well know, "Secuestro express" is the first Venezuelan movie to be distributed internationally, and the fact is that even so Miramax had not bought the rights of the movie, likewise it had been a success... is verified that to all of us, be Venezuelans or not, we they like the true histories, without fiction neither nothing, that show more the misery of our countries, and that better shown of the life in Caracas that shows "Secuestro express".It can show what we have lived the Venezuelans in this despotic government of Chávez, How? Showing all the TOTALLY TRUE scenes of the events occurred from April of 2002, like the Massacre of "Puente Llaguno" or "Llaguno Bridge", the gunmen and many other facts of great importance in the political-social life of the country. And to think that these shameless murderers, right now they are advanced to be councilmen, and they can be elected as mayors. (Oh my gosh, in what kind of country do we live?) We also can see the effect of prostitution, transvestism, "matraca" or "Policial corruption", the intense depiction of drug addiction in our society, the extreme poverty, the murders, etc. All in the movie works too well."Secuestro express" is a masterpiece, and not only I say as Venezuelan, as critician too, the special effects with the DV cameras it really throw us to an exciting movie and I can see many times without getting tired of it.So, to the world, Venezuela is a truthfully country, very rich, but as you well know, with presidents as Chavez, we are screwed up and we're converted in a "País tercermundista". CHAVEZ OUT ON December 3!

George Parker "Secuestro Express" translates roughly as "quick turn-around kidnapping" and, according to the makers of this film, is becoming an increasingly common crime in Latin American. The film is a gritty, grainy, low budget flick about three thugs who kidnap a beautiful woman with and her boyfriend to get some fast cash via the secuestro express methodology. Although the film is full of meaningless thug talk and inconsequential filler, when it does finally get down to business - about an hour into the run - it grabs and holds on thanks to a powerful performance by Maestro who busts some serious acting chops demonstrating she's much more than just another pretty face. As a cap, this little flick drives home an important social message which may be food for thought for those who care to think beyond the film. Okay but nothing to get excited about and fraught with the usual subtitles, obvious budget constraints, etc., Secuestro Express makes for a worthy watch for those who like their crime flicks straight up with a twist and a message from south of the border. (B)