Nicotina (2003)

Calificación de los usuarios:

6.7/10   

Director:

Hugo Rodríguez

Guionista:

Martín Salinas (writer)

Fecha de Lanzamiento:

3 octubre 2003 (Mexico)

Género:

Acción | Comedia | Crimen | Drama

Plot:

A real-time dark comedy about a science geek who tangles with a clutch of Russian gangsters after he delivers them the wrong computer disk.

Plot Keywords:

Diamond | Caper | Hacker | Mexico City | Gangster

Premios:

12 wins & 12 nominations

Comentarios de los usuarios:

"Don't smoke...It kills"

Reparto

Diego Luna	...	Lolo
Lucas Crespi	...	Nene
Norman Sotolongo	...	Svóboda
Jesús Ochoa	...	Tomson
Martha Tenorio	...	Eulogia (as Marta Tenorio)
Rafael Inclán	...	Goyo
Rosa María Bianchi	...	Carmen
José María Yazpik	...	Joaquín
Marta Belaustegui	...	Andrea (as Marta Beláustegui)
Eugenio Montessoro	...	Carlos
Carmen Madrid	...	Clara
Daniel Giménez Cacho	...	Beto
Alexis Sánchez	...	Andrei
Jorge Zárate	...	Sánchez
Enoc Leaño	...	Memo

También conocida como:

Cigarros, desamores, y 20 diamantes (Mexico) (working title)
Nicotina (Spain)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language.

Duración:

Argentina:93 min | Canada:93 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | USA:90 min

País:

Mexico | Argentina | Spain

Idioma:

Español

Color:

Color

Sonido:

Dolby Digital

Clasificación:

Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | USA:R | Spain:13 | Australia:MA | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Brazil:16 | Germany:12 (original rating) | Germany:12

Locaciones de Filmación:

México D.F., Mexico

Compañía:

Altavista Films

"Don't smoke...It kills"

I'm not very fond of co-productions between different countries, mostly between Spanish-speaking countries; but is something that is done a lot today and I have to accept it. Mexico has a very wide range of film and an important filmography inside of Latin America's countries. But…There's always one but. Lots of soap-operas are done in Mexico too, and there's a lot of television.

And as I said, many times television looks like movies, which is good, but also movies look like television; which is absolutely terrible. "Nicotina" starts as silent as a telephonic call; with one line in the screen that represents a person talking, and another one that represents another person, and so it goes. It also has the usual black screen with anything on it, typical of directors that don't take risks.

The story follows Lolo, a hacker lost in the lust of her neighbor Andrea's love, who has to enter an account to get money for el Nene, who drives with Tomson, and has to pay a Russian mobster that will sell some much cherished diamonds to him. This leads to shoots and encounters in different places, like Goyo's and his wife Barbershop, or Beto's and his wife Pharmacy.

The actors are Marta Belaustegui, Lucas Crespi, Jesús Ochoa, Norman Sotolongo, Rafael Inclán, Rosa María Bianchi, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Carmen Madrid and Diego Luna; and they all accomplish their portrayals very well. The latter one is the cover of the film, or the most known of the actors nowadays. I won't tell his whole story, but I will say that being the reason many people saw the movie, he doesn't deliver.

What ensue are multiple talks between all of the characters. Not any talks, but insightful, interesting, metaphoric talks that ultimately seem to lead to the film's title. And the writer, Martin Salinas, is probably the most prepared man of the crew, whose first words for a movie got Norma Aleandro an Oscar nomination. He has written for series, for movies in two languages…

This script, however, presents a contradiction. We can't tell if his plot is an excuse to develop these conversations, or even worse, if the conversations are an excuse to fill the incoherent plot. And it's right there, in the plot, where the film has its defined problems. The ending is fantastic indeed, and thought provoking, but we get confused during the road, and we don't feel the time.

When Goyo's wife is about to shoot him, the shot changes to another scenario. Strangely and incorrectly, when the camera goes back to the couple's barbershop, the woman is still holding the gun…After five minutes. Is not only Salinas' fault but director Hugo Rodriguez's; because he prefers not to take risks during his second feature.

And he can't manage the timing. And it looks like television. And I didn't plan to stay home.