Marίa, llena eres de gracia

English title: Maria Full of Grace

Genre: suspense

With: Catalina Sandino Moreno (Marίa Álvarez), Wilson Guerrero (Juan, her boyfriend), Jhon Álex Toro (Franklin), Yenny Paola Vega (Blanca), Jaime Osorio Gómez (Javier), Guilied López (Lucy Diaz), Patricia Rae (Carla), Orlando Tobón (Don Fernando)

Director: Joshua Marston

Screenplay: Joshua Marston

Release: 2004

Studio: HBO Films, Fine Line Features, Journeyman Pictures et al.

Rating: R

MBiS score: 8.3/10

When It Just Has to Get There

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Story-line: in a small Colombian town, Marίa suffers a debilitating job, a family that relies too heavily on her and a boyfriend she doesn’t really like. Meeting Franklin opens up a whole new world for the young lady… but a world more hazardous than she could imagine.  

Pluses: convincing acting by Catalina Sandino Moreno and a fine group of actors, precise cinematography and editing, Joshua Marston’s no-frills direction and his tough, realistic screenplay à la DIRTY PRETTY THINGS.  

Minuses: be warned that the third act is particularly potent. 

Comments: this small-scale, highly efficient thriller rivals much bigger productions and presents material that is fresh and very shocking. No wonder MARIA FULL OF GRACE has been heralded by reviewers everywhere.

MBiS

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Scarface

Genre: crime drama

With: Al Pacino (Tony Montana), Steven Bauer (Manny Ribera), Michelle Pfeiffer (Elvira Hancock), Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (Gina Montana, Tony’s sister), Robert Loggia (Frank Lopez), Miriam Colon (Mama Montana), F. Murray Abraham (Omar Suarez)

Director: Brian De Palma

Release: 1983

Studio: Universal Pictures

Rating: R

MBiS score: 7.7/10

If You Want Chicas, You’ll Have to Move the Yeyo (and none of this is obscene, by the way…)

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Story-line: in 1980, when Fidel Castro allows thousands of Cubans to settle in the United States, many leave the island nation on humanitarian grounds but some are simply convicts that the Castro regime doesn’t want. Among the latter is one Antonio ‟Tony” Montana, a determined young man not shy of playing rough to fulfill his version of the American dream.   

Pluses: solid acting by Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer (for their splendid chemistry… and some hilarious scenes together), standout support from Robert Loggia and Steven Bauer, a restrained musical score by Giorgio Moroder and a mostly solid screenplay that carries sharp dialogues and a nuanced portrait of Tony Montana.

Minuses: several cheap scenes played either heavy-handedly or too softly (actors almost cracking up while delivering their lines; the Freedomtown riot looks like a kindergarten romp). The screenplay provides a rushed, wonky and Ramboesque ending that leaves a bitter aftertaste.     

Comments: although this film doesn’t rank highly as an artistic endeavour, it certainly qualifies as a guilty pleasure. In a way, SCARFACE is a tour de force, a three-hour showcase of violence, genuine drama, ostentation, humour and gruesomeness. Take Tony’s word for it: never trust those cock-a-woaches…  

MBiS

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