I saw this movie at the San Diego Film Festival, and am not sure it has been officially released in the US, despite this being a couple of years ago. This movie is not terrible, and starts off fairly strong, actually. It also unfolds in a pretty realistic manner, however, it does not really tell its viewer anything new (involving yourself with drugs or crime or both is especially dangerous when in a foreign country), and also is not just tragic, but depressing.
The story centers around three friends: Andrew, his friend Jonny, and girlfriend Melissa. At the beginning of the story, Andrew is having money problems, and decides he can make a little extra money by buying drugs in Mexico and smuggling them back into the US (ala Maria Full of Grace, a far better movie which dealt with similar material). The three were planning to go into Mexico anyways for a party, and he feels that such a thing will not be a big deal, nor very difficult. Of course things go very wrong for the three friends and then go from bad to worse. **Spoiler Alert!!!! Please skip the rest of this paragraph if you don't want to ruin the plot** Jonny gets sick very suddenly just as the trio are nearing the border. Some of the drugs he swallowed burst inside him and he dies of an overdose. Andrew and Melissa are forced to return to the drug dealers (two bizarre, gay, German characters) who are extremely angry Andrew has returned after things went wrong and refuse him a refund because he already swallowed the drugs. At this point, Andrew makes another dangerous decision by trying to steal from the drug dealers and run away with Melissa. The two are chased by both the dealers and police, separated and cross paths a final time for a conclusion at the border.
While I did end up personally caring about the characters a little, this movie simply cannot be watched without thinking that these characters have made very bad choices and gotten in way over their own heads. As mentioned before, the results are not simply plausible, but to a good degree predictable. Were the story more compelling, or simply told in a more interesting way we might care more what happens to these characters, but given the choices they've made, the viewer simply cannot help but just watch and think to themselves that whatever happens, these people deserve it. The movie simply is not very exciting, despite its story of danger and pursuit, and so depressing is the tone and message, that one has to wonder who this movie was made for. What audience can a movie like this really have? All things aside, the performances are all quite solid, Eric Balfour is convincing as Andrew, the story's protagonist who makes some very poor decisions and is forced to pay for them heavily. Colin Hanks is also good as Jonny, though he actually has very little screen time and exits the story quite early. Finally, Lauren German as Melissa provides the movie's heart, and is the only character who really does nothing bad. Andrew's only redemption comes as a result of her.
The story centers around three friends: Andrew, his friend Jonny, and girlfriend Melissa. At the beginning of the story, Andrew is having money problems, and decides he can make a little extra money by buying drugs in Mexico and smuggling them back into the US (ala Maria Full of Grace, a far better movie which dealt with similar material). The three were planning to go into Mexico anyways for a party, and he feels that such a thing will not be a big deal, nor very difficult. Of course things go very wrong for the three friends and then go from bad to worse. **Spoiler Alert!!!! Please skip the rest of this paragraph if you don't want to ruin the plot** Jonny gets sick very suddenly just as the trio are nearing the border. Some of the drugs he swallowed burst inside him and he dies of an overdose. Andrew and Melissa are forced to return to the drug dealers (two bizarre, gay, German characters) who are extremely angry Andrew has returned after things went wrong and refuse him a refund because he already swallowed the drugs. At this point, Andrew makes another dangerous decision by trying to steal from the drug dealers and run away with Melissa. The two are chased by both the dealers and police, separated and cross paths a final time for a conclusion at the border.
While I did end up personally caring about the characters a little, this movie simply cannot be watched without thinking that these characters have made very bad choices and gotten in way over their own heads. As mentioned before, the results are not simply plausible, but to a good degree predictable. Were the story more compelling, or simply told in a more interesting way we might care more what happens to these characters, but given the choices they've made, the viewer simply cannot help but just watch and think to themselves that whatever happens, these people deserve it. The movie simply is not very exciting, despite its story of danger and pursuit, and so depressing is the tone and message, that one has to wonder who this movie was made for. What audience can a movie like this really have? All things aside, the performances are all quite solid, Eric Balfour is convincing as Andrew, the story's protagonist who makes some very poor decisions and is forced to pay for them heavily. Colin Hanks is also good as Jonny, though he actually has very little screen time and exits the story quite early. Finally, Lauren German as Melissa provides the movie's heart, and is the only character who really does nothing bad. Andrew's only redemption comes as a result of her.