Sin Nombre - Review

Before the two Ben's were kicked off the show At the Movies, they sadly were given the honor to be given the "Best So Far" episode. The two of them both happily, with their facade smiles and forced cheeriness, had named SIN NOMBRE as the best film of the year. This film, which came out of the disaster that was this year's Sundance Festival, came around to my local art house and I blew it off as yet another border film. Well, the Holy Grail Knight should be smiling right now as I have chosen wisely; SIN NOMBRE is a lame carbon copy of both CITY OF GOD and EL NORTE and it doesn't move anywhere beyond mediocrity.

The film is supposed to follow these two young teenagers, a gang member named "El Casper" (Edgar Flores) and the Hondurian Sayra (Paulina Gaitan), but the writer/director Cary Joji Fukunaga seems only interested in the former then the latter. This was a poor decision as the Casper character is too cliche and suffers due to Flore's bad non-acting skills. Casper is trying to run away from his former street gang after the death of his girlfriend and killing the culprit, who happens to be the alpha leader. While he gets most of the story and attention, the viewer also experiences the cynical Sayra as she is pushed along with her father and uncle to travel to the American border through the trains. Her side is more interesting, since her urge to leave isn't necessary and she feels insecure about her place in the world. Instead of following this new original take of a border film, not to mention Gaitan's good performance, Fukunaga wants to shove a dumb redemption story down the eyes of the audience.

The story doesn't move beyond the basics; You will figure out the next plot point without even trying. For example, Casper helps train a little boy to be part of the gang. Gee, I wonder if this kid will join in going after Casper when he defects? Will he get caught up with the brotherhood propaganda and the allure of a gun? If you want to see these ideals at work, but more realistically done, just see CITY OF GOD. But the most notable dumb plot element is when Casper's girlfriend goes to a secret meeting of the gang in the beginning. Why does she do this seriously dumb decision? Simply so she can have a horrible death scene and to have Casper morally change.

This constant misdirection also affects the rest of crew. The cinematography, which won the Award for Excellence at Sundance, is not engaging or unique. One shot in particular irked me: Casper kills his former boss in front of the immigrants and segregates himself to avoid contact. When the train stops for awhile, there is a moment in a long shot with him still in place on the train while the others are resting and eating in a plain. Instead of holding it, the cinematographer tilts down to show a guy getting water from a polluted stream. Then, it cuts to a closer shot of his position, thus making the first shot a complete waste. Another missed opportunity involves a sequence when the immigrants place different colored rain tarps to cover up. Why show it from a grounded level when you can do at a high angle, which would make it more colorful and also suspenseful as some robbers walk around them?

SIN NOMBRE isn't one of the worst films this year; It has a good performance with Paulina Gaitan and a couple of clever moments. But the banal direction, predictable script, and the fact it is yet another ordinary border film, you have a recipe for a cheap art and social film.

FINAL REVIEW: 2 / 5