Review of Dog Eat Dog (2008) by Ceph J — 19 Jun 2010

Anyone who reads the news knows the drug culture is getting worse. Latin America is growing it plenty to supply to the Gringos. This movie depicts the betrayals between members of a Colombian drug gang. It starts off with a bang, gets slow in the middle but ends with enough bloodshed to fill the Amazon. "Dog eats dog"...each one for himself.

Victor (Marlon Moreno) is sent to secure some stolen money for his drug lord but kills one of the thieves and confiscates the money for himself. The movie then becomes a cat-and-mouse thriller with spies. Interpersed are subplots of a strained relationship with the hotel receptionist where Victor is hiding, a mysterious stranger calling his room for an unknown woman, and Victor trying to reconcile with his ex-wife to hand over the money. The drug lord recruits an obeah woman to put a curse on the suspects so the movie gets supernatural. It's too much plot which distracts from the initial premise. I did like Hansel Camacho's performance because you never know whether he was actually cursed or just acting weird.

All these elements do come together at the end with bloody deaths by gunfire. Director Carlos Moreno directs with a hand-held camera and makes the camera a fly in the wall (you always get the perspective of one of the characters in each scene). The cinematographer bathes the movies in washed, schematic colors which emphasizes the tension. The bloody ending is reminiscent of "Reservoir Dogs." The movie kept me enthralled and I can't remember another movie which demonstrates just how dysfunctional drug cartels really are.