here's my 2 cents:
- The acting is impressively good across the board, except maybe for Ruben Blades who is completely wasted in this role and whose inability to master the correct Venezuelan accent on his 3 short lines is unbelievable. I would not be so annoyed by this if I didn't expect more from such a fine actor.
- All three kidnappers are creepily believable although I did sense maybe a latino slash rapper slash thug feel which I just do not recognize in the local malandros I've seen.
- I thought the script was very good, some very memorable lines all throughout. I felt a little insulted by the "captions" shown explaining each character. I think it is better to let the audience reach its own conclusions on each character and not tell them what to think.
- There is an overall cheesiness to the movie which reaches intolerable heights at the end of the movie with a voice over. I just read a review somewhere and there was a phrase which captures this feeling - "kindergarten social commentary". Again, do not tell me how to feel.
- Overall though I found the movie to be shockingly good and an outstanding effort of local talent.