Taut thriller about a tragic reality
Added 6/11/2008
Colombia has been host to regular kidnappings for years now. Rebels and criminals seek ransoms from EVERYBODY all the time. This movie brings this national tragedy to light in a flawless, sparklingly well-done drama. America Ferrera is great, but every role is cast well.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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mesmerizing
Added 10/22/2008
Totally convincing and gripping from the first moment. This movie shocked and saddened me about the depth of brutality the average colombian experiences,from a pick-up game of soccer to a pointless kidnapping.I left with a disturbed feeling of the lack of value on the human life.
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Concept With Promise, Bad Execution.
Added 6/20/2008
For a low-budget thriller, there are some things to admire in "Towards Darkness" including its cinematography and incredibly authentic settings. But the film misses the mark by intriguing us with a fascinating concept based on important events most Americans are not aware of, and then wasting the opportunity by reducing the story to typical action movie cliches.
The film starts with promise as we see a young Colombian man bound and tied, we don't know where and we are not sure why he has been kidnapped. This is intercut with shots of his wealthy parents negotiating with a villainous kidnapper with the aid of American contractors. These scenes grab us and manage to generate suspense, and the characters have good establishing moments at the beginning as we meet Jose Gutierrez (Roberto Urbina), the son of high class Colombians who visits his homeland and rekindles a romance with a childhood sweetheart played by America Ferrera of "Ugly Betty" fame. Director Antonio Negret also establishes his story in powerful, wonderous settings as he takes us on a visual tour of Colombia, its lush jungles, coastal cities and inner neighborhoods. There is never a doubt for anyone who has ever visited South America, that this film is taking place where it says it's taking place.
But half-way through the movie loses steam, mostly because the most fascinating aspects of the story, Jose's kidnapping and Colombia's social crisis, are brushed aside for useless action movie characters including a former military man and CIA people trying to conduct a rescue. We are forced to sit through endless shots of the American driving around a city, facing a traffic jam and zigzagging through neighborhoods, over and over. And for half the film we are treated to endless wide shots of a military helicopter hovering over lush South American jungle patches and swamps. The Americans cardboard characters quickly slapped together out of Tom Clancy yarns, their dialogue mostly consists of lines such as "I need wings and guns," "no problem, I know guys who owe me favors," and "we've never operated much there," "tell that to Pablo Escobar." Right.
Colombia's civil war and drug culture do merit attention, especially since the country is currently the #1 recipient of U.S. aid in Latin America and one of our top military clients besides Israel. A fascinating, profound story can be pulled from the conflict, consider Gabriel Garcia Marquez's masterful book "News Of A Kidnapping." But Negret is more concerned with cool Ridley Scott-inspired flash cuts and pans, saturated images of guns, speeding cars and pounding music. We never even really understand how the bad guys materialized. The conflict involving the FARC and ELN rebels is quickly thrown at us in one rushed car conversation. All we understand, or all that Negret believes Americans need to know, is that the FARC and ELN are commies, the end. The script feels very detached or hollow, without any serious attempt at giving us a meaningful story involving what Colombians go through everyday.
To be fair, there were some things that make the movie stand out. There are the beautiful settings, some great regional music, and the ending is surprising and unexpected. Some of the performances are notable, especially Tony Plana (JFK, The Disappearance Of Garcia Lorca) as Jose's father. The moments involving Jose and Ferrera are sweet and there is a chemistry between both actors. But, it all goes to waste when the movie gets into Jerry Bruckheimer mode and doesn't even give us one notable action scene.
Colombia's civil war is most certainly worth a movie or two, but "Towards Darkness" could take place anywhere, chances are you've never been to Colombia, or know much about South America, which in this case is fine because you've already seen this movie.
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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Highly recommend
Added 4/1/2009
I love this movie America Ferrera is awesome, this whole cast is great. I highly recommend this movie!
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sad look at the truth.
Added 12/14/2008
This very realistic event brings home the brutal act of kidnapping and taking lives for the sake of ugly money. Jose is a talented photography student studying in America who comes home to Columbia to visit his family over the holidays. While out with his friends, he is kidnapped and held for ransom. His father is not wealthy, but struggles to come up with the money. The film flashes back for a deeper look inside the characters, making it that much more heart wrenching. The statistic flashed at the end of someone being kidnapped in Columbia every three hours is a harsh reality I hope will one day change.
Chrissy K. McVay
Author of 'Souls of the North Wind'
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Towards Darkness tells brilliant but tragic story
Added 7/15/2008
Towards Darkness (Hacia La Oscuridad) is a bilingual (English/Spanish) thriller crime drama based on the award-winning short film "Darkness Minus Twelve", from 24-year old writer/director Antonio Negret. The feature film stars Emmy, SAG, and Golden Globe winning actress America Ferrera (Ugly Betty and Darkness Minus Twelve) as the love interest of Jose Gutierrez (Roberto Urbina), a Columbian photographer living in New York.
The movie opens after Jose has returned home to Colombia to visit family for Christmas. He is kidnapped, a common occurrence in the country. His kidnappers have threatened to kill Jose if his family does not pay a ransom promptly. The family knows they do not have the money and feel helpless since involving the police can do more harm than good. They turn to a covert American special ops team to help rescue Jose before the pending deadline.
Inspired by the true life experiences of Negret, Towards Darkness portrays the very real tragic kidnappings that hinder the Columbian culture and affected three of Negret's family members. He turned his personal family tragedy and life altering experiences into a multiple-awarding winning drama that helps bring to light the very real turmoil of kidnap-for-ransom that undermines the public face of Columbia as a thriving nation.
The movie begins with the kidnapping and then moves forward with two parallel stories. One shows the effort of Jose's family and their American covert ops team to track him after the kidnapping. The other story goes back in time and shows Jose's life in New York, his flight to Colombia, and his initial (sometimes frightening) encounters with friends and family upon his return. This piece of the movie also offers the romantic component, as past loves, Jose and Luiza (Ferrera), reconnect prior to the kidnapping.
As the race against the clock heats up, emotions run high. The covert ops team works quickly to locate the target while also working to arrange for ransom payment. We also see the ugly side of the violent business underground in Colombia. Towards Darkness is an intense, action-packed, extremely well-written and directed story that is especially impacting because it is based on real events and real life for many families. Negret is a brilliant young mind who has obviously persevered to tell his story. Ferrera is great and the movie in general is well-acted. This is one of the most well-developed, complete movies we have seen in a while. Viewers need to be prepared to watch as it is written for the sophisticated movie watcher. Towards Darkness is brilliant to the shocking conclusion!
Get more details and watch the trailer for this and other upcoming and new release movies at: [...].
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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