To Kill a Man (2014) - Foreign Film Friday

Number Rolled: 42

Movie Name/Year: To Kill a Man (2014)

Tagline: Revenge is sour.

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Length: 82 minutes

Rating: NR

Production Companies: Arizona Films, El Remanso

Producer: Eduardo Villalobos, Guillaume de Seille

Director: Alejandro Fernández Almendras

Writer: Alejandro Fernández Almendras

Actors: Daniel Candia, Alejandra Yañez, Daniel Antivilo, Ariel Mateluna, Jennifer Salas, Don Willie, Paula Leoncini, Daniel Urrutia, Eduardo Villalobos, Sol Banoviez

Stunt Doubles: N/A

Languages

Speech Available: Spanish

Subtitles Available: English, Spanish

Blurb from Netflix: The thugs that have taken over Jorge’s middle-class neighborhood push the mild-mannered family man to the brink when they mug him and shoot his son.

Selina’s Point of View:

This movie was a very poor start to our new Foreign Film Fridays. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure whatever the festivals saw in this movie was very educational and technically sound but that doesn’t mean a damn thing for entertainment value.

Where entertainment value is concerned, there was none.

I was literally bored to tears. You know when you have those yawning attacks that start to make your eyes watery? Yeah.

I get what the creators were trying to do with the lack of sound during certain scenes, but it didn’t succeed. Instead of forcing a feeling of suspense, it just made me lose focus and become less interested in what was going on.

There’s are plenty of true stories out there that make phenomenal movies, but this isn’t one of them. Just because something really happened, doesn’t mean there’s enough interest there to keep people watching.

This is a film that could have benefited from being a short instead of a feature. I definitely wouldn’t watch it again.

Cat’s Point of View:

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with this movie.

I think the very beginning of the film prior to the title is a good indicator for the rest of the film – slow and drawn out with dramatic music.

I ended up feeling really squirmy and antsy during this movie because I was bored out of my mind; but I couldn’t look away to fidget or I’d miss what was going on.

I’m not sure that this really falls into the ‘thriller’ genre. It does fall squarely into the crime drama zone. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the sort of drama that I enjoy.

The movie claims to be based on a true story. While I can respect that, and conditions in the depicted area of the world aren’t as fortunate as where I call home; I don’t generally choose to watch movies that leave such a bleak feeling in their wake.

Not only was I not entertained, I failed to feel a profound impact from the story that would make the time spent with this drama more worthwhile.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 53%

Netflix’s Prediction for Selina – 2/5

Selina’s Trust-the-Dice Score – 1/5

Netflix’s Prediction for Cat – 1.5/5

Cat’s Trust-the-Dice Score – 1/5

The Random Rating: PG-13

P.S. Based on a true story.

Movie Trailer: