Skunkyrate Gripping story with well-crafted characters

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Edwin The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

cowboyerik Easily a top 10 movie for any Javier Bardem fan, most incredible drama based on a true story. Incredibly well done movie on the part of John Makovich, should be a solid 8.5 rating. Suffers from 7.0 due to poor distribution network. Supporting roles are well cast, movie is well thought out and executed. Worthwhile addition to any Javier Bardem collection! I hope to get my copy autographed one day!While not really filmed on location in Peru due to security concerns, the producers and directors went thru great lengths to make the movie feel like it was shot on location in Peru. Choice of English for primary language and the native tongue Quecheun for key dialogues was GREAT!!!!

groggo I read a lot of reviews of this film, and only in a few places did I see any mention of a bizarre choice director John Malkovich made: it's set in Latin America, yet everyone speaks English with a Spanish accent. No reason is given for this, even by Malkovich himself in the DVD extras.I found this whole linguistic silliness disconcerting, jarring and disruptive, and it throws the film's credibility to the winds. I just cannot suspend disbelief when I see this on the screen. It rarely happens any more, and for good reason.It just makes no sense to have people speaking English with Spanish-and-Italian-inflected accents, while songs, newscasts, background chatter, newspapers and posters are heard and seen entirely in Spanish. It's a weird decision, and it flat-out sabotages the entire film. This kind of stuff used to be done routinely in the 1940s and 1950s with pretty laughable results (Nazis scheming to blow something up while they're all speaking to each other in sinister, cackling, heavily accented English).I'm not surprised by anything Malkovich does. He's a self-styled professional eccentric who has gained a reputation as a great actor, or perhaps artist, which is a term he would probably prefer. I've always been frankly puzzled about the buzz surrounding this guy. Down to his aristocratic, halting, midwestern (let's face it -- creepy) speech patterns, he's about as charismatic as a walnut.He's also a poster boy for pop culture's right wing, which used to be the property of people like Charlton Heston. He doesn't believe in extending time, patience or understanding for revolutionary left-wing movements, and he demonstrates it vividly in this film. I cannot help but feel that Malkovich, given his political stance, made this film as more of a statement than a work of art (which it isn't).The Dancer Upstairs is a sometimes intriguing film done in an often familiar American-style manhunt style. What's glaringly missing is any discernible background to the spectacular (and terrifying) rise of Peru's Shining Path movement (1980-92), upon which the film was based. Malkovich shows us instead a lot of footage about the hunt for the enigmatic leader of the group. Forget that the Maoist Shining Path gained so much popularity among the masses that it almost overthrew the government. If you want to know why they gained this popularity (and STILL do in some parts of Latin America), don't look to this film for answers. It's too busy with the Cult of the Personality (i.e. the leader of the group -- a solitary individual). Something very American about that. What you'll see here are a lot of crazed terrorists blowing things up real good, because, well, in Malkovich's eyes, all terrorists are crazy. End of story. I watched this movie because I'd walk across coals to see Italy's Laura Morante; both she and Spain's Javier Bardem are magnetic screen personalities. Morante is so sexy; she has a gorgeously sweet, emotive and VERY feminine face. She and Bardem team up very well here, despite more than a few lapses with dialogue that is stilted and unnatural (and for good reason: they're speaking in their second, third or perhaps even fourth language). To make matters worse, the dialogue is often American-style colloquial. Go figure. So many times, the spoken rhythms of the characters just fall flat on the screen.Not a bad movie, if you can concentrate on the visuals and the pacing and try to forget that you're supposed to suspend disbelief. Alas, it falls on its own linguistic sword, a victim of Malkovich's obsession with being different.

palvngstn All I want to know about this less than thrilling thriller is if animals were sacrificed in reality? Just the display of dead animals to convey the message of the show is unspeakably appalling. Further it incites abuse of defenseless creatures to others, to be disrespectful of animals is barbaric and unnecessary. Violence against women, children and animals renders most movies unwatchable and does not further plot development. It only shows a lack of creativity in writing and telling the story. A lack of subtlety isn't interesting, it's just extremely poor taste. I found no mention about "cruelty to animals" addressed in references to this film. Regardless it's inappropriate to display this kind of horror. Bad taste = bad movie.

Joker-26 (SOME SPOILERS AHEAD)Even though I realize that he is very right-wing, I still found this film intriguing. It took me a while to realize it was indeed the Shining Path movement that this was loosely based on. Even the leader of this movement looks a bit like Guzman. I have to say the settings were beautiful (filmed in Ecuador and Spain apparently). The opening scene where the lead detective meets his future nemesis was well constructed, and it instantly imbued the revolutionary leader with a mysterious edge when he talks of 'this country gives me a rash', which the policeman responds to with 'the countryside?' and the man replies with 'yes, that too'. As others have pointed out, there was a clichéd element to it (and the English speaking Spanish actors could have been speaking Spanish, but we all know how American producers and studios as well as cinema goers hate 'foreign movies with subtitles'!!!)....however, it is still original work as we get an insight into the bizarre displays of terrorism by this group (hanging dogs, child bombers, etc) and of course the panicky, paranoid response of the government and military who always demand to know 'are we in a revolution?'. The sub-plot of the relationship between the detective and the ballet dancer is a bit predictable and unnecessary I thought. Of course there is passion and love during political turmoil but this was over-the-top. Also, you're given the sense that the people involved in this group are all brainwashed automatons who 'fell prey to the charismatic leader', which is not true of the vast majority of rebel movements. The Shining Path had some legitimate grievances against state repression but unfortunately Malko ultimately portrays them as irrational murderers (with the suicide bombings into cafes, etc which plays to his rather violent and irrational pro-Israeli views on 'terrorism') Overall though, a stylish and watchable film, though tinged with some right wing propaganda that comes out during the middle and towards the end of the film. Homosexual reactionaries will enjoy it immensely as good looking male cops battle the evidently feminine world of the revolutionary movement.