Review of King (2006) by Josh K — 25 Oct 2006

[size=3][font=Times New Roman]I liked much of this film, particularly the performances (Gael García Bernal is proving himself to be an extraordinary actor, in particular), but the ending was just flat out miscalculated -- along with a few other set pieces along the way.

The story, Marsh?s take on vengeance, I guess it could be said, follows a young Mexican man as he leaves the Navy and heads to a small town in Texas to meet a man his mother told him about. Other than that, I won?t talk story-wise, lest I ruin whatever parts of the plot should be kept secret.

I had an idea of what was going to happen (was it that it was predictable or a review I read a little while ago that signalled the beginning of the end? Likely both. Either way, the film is actually really quite bearable until it takes a rather unconvincing and miscalculated direction.

In the end, though, it?s often a film?s climax that stays in the mind. For this reason alone, The King is a 'no' for me, saved from a 'NO' purely based on the performances and some of the other redeeming features (such as the gorgeous cinematography)[/font][/size].