If you ever doubted the impact that music has on movies just listen to Elia Cmiral's score in this film. From the titles on, it creates the perfect mood for this dark thriller set amongst the urban sprawl of Brazil's São Paulo.
A combination of elements makes this movie seem better than it really is. Although it has a setting that is more likely to crop up on World Movies with sub-titles, I was surprised to find that it starred Brendan Fraser and Scott Glenn, and is in English for the most part.
The film is set over the course of a single night. Sinatra (Scott Glen) runs a brothel in São Paulo. After inadvertently coming into possession of a large quantity of drugs, he is about to make a deal with a Nigerian gang, the proceeds of which will allow him to live comfortably in the US with his wife, former prostitute Angie, and their young son. He has the drugs, and the Nigerians have the money. He intends to hand the brothel over to his older son, Paul (Brendan Fraser). However Paul plans to hijack the deal and steal the money for himself.
The plan starts to unravel when Sinatra's Nigerian go-between is killed; the Nigerian gang will only deal with a Nigerian. Sinatra enlists Wembe (Mos Def), a Nigerian dishwasher from the brothel to take the drugs to the gang and return with the money.
This arrangement sets off a great deal of paranoia especially in Paul. Then, in the best traditions of the genre, chance intervenes to disrupt everyone's plans. Before the fade out, we are shown that there really isn't much honour among thieves especially down São Paulo way
The setting is used to great effect and we get a feeling for the dangerous side of São Paulo. This obscures the fact that there are some fairly standard action scenes, and the downbeat finale also seems fairly standard for this kind of film.
Brendan Fraser as Paul, taps his inner bad for this role – addicted to gambling and cocaine, in one scene he slices off the earlobes of a transvestite after a fight, and in another, to prove he is beyond redemption, he has an old man's dog shot.
Scott Glenn always brings depth to his roles. He gains sympathy for his character despite the fact that he is not only a brothel owner, but has now also become a major drug dealer – showing how easily movies can distort values.
The only character to emerge with dignity is Wembe, an unlikely hero who sticks to his word despite everyone's doubts, and attacks from all sides on the streets of the city.
The film is worth a look just for the fact that a fairly typical plot has been transferred from the mean streets of Los Angeles or New York to the even meaner streets of São Paulo.
A combination of elements makes this movie seem better than it really is. Although it has a setting that is more likely to crop up on World Movies with sub-titles, I was surprised to find that it starred Brendan Fraser and Scott Glenn, and is in English for the most part.
The film is set over the course of a single night. Sinatra (Scott Glen) runs a brothel in São Paulo. After inadvertently coming into possession of a large quantity of drugs, he is about to make a deal with a Nigerian gang, the proceeds of which will allow him to live comfortably in the US with his wife, former prostitute Angie, and their young son. He has the drugs, and the Nigerians have the money. He intends to hand the brothel over to his older son, Paul (Brendan Fraser). However Paul plans to hijack the deal and steal the money for himself.
The plan starts to unravel when Sinatra's Nigerian go-between is killed; the Nigerian gang will only deal with a Nigerian. Sinatra enlists Wembe (Mos Def), a Nigerian dishwasher from the brothel to take the drugs to the gang and return with the money.
This arrangement sets off a great deal of paranoia especially in Paul. Then, in the best traditions of the genre, chance intervenes to disrupt everyone's plans. Before the fade out, we are shown that there really isn't much honour among thieves especially down São Paulo way
The setting is used to great effect and we get a feeling for the dangerous side of São Paulo. This obscures the fact that there are some fairly standard action scenes, and the downbeat finale also seems fairly standard for this kind of film.
Brendan Fraser as Paul, taps his inner bad for this role – addicted to gambling and cocaine, in one scene he slices off the earlobes of a transvestite after a fight, and in another, to prove he is beyond redemption, he has an old man's dog shot.
Scott Glenn always brings depth to his roles. He gains sympathy for his character despite the fact that he is not only a brothel owner, but has now also become a major drug dealer – showing how easily movies can distort values.
The only character to emerge with dignity is Wembe, an unlikely hero who sticks to his word despite everyone's doubts, and attacks from all sides on the streets of the city.
The film is worth a look just for the fact that a fairly typical plot has been transferred from the mean streets of Los Angeles or New York to the even meaner streets of São Paulo.