Review of The Crime of Padre Amaro (2002) by Rodrigo D — 08 Nov 2012

I'm always on the look out for interesting foreign language films--being the film buff that I am. =o) I've gone from Chinese movies to Indian to French films... and now I'm checking out Mexican flicks.

I bought a copy of "El Crimen del Padre Amaro" partly because of its lead, Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal, and partly because I was thinking that with all the hype received by "Amores Perros" and "Y Tu Mama Tambien", this might be a good one too.

I saw the movie. Nothing out of the ordinary here. It actually plays out like most of the Tagalog films I've seen--typical, predictable, lackluster. In fact, some of the Mexican telenovelas that made their way to Philippine shores had better, more engaging stories.

But that's not to say that the acting isn't good. It is. Garcia Bernal's performance was about the only thing that held my interest in the film--something the script should have mainly done. Well, you can't have everything. =o).

Plus, with the whole young-priest-meets-real-world plot having been mined so many times before, the creative forces behind "Amaro" could have at least added some peculiar plot points to, say, steer it away from its much better predecessor "The Priest" ( which starred Linus Roache).

Still, this movie helps make my collection varied and diverse. So, I can't really complain. =o).