KissEnglishPasto
...........................................................from Pasto,Colombia...Via: L.A. CA., CALI, COLOMBIA...and ORLANDO, FL LADRON was released in August 2007, just before the U.S. economy hit a gigantic speed bump in 2008… If you're over 18, I'm sure you remember what the next couple years were like, right? Well, I remember watching promos for the film some years back and how people involved with the film said, "It was produced in Miami…The Capital of Latin America!" Strange…Since the big recession, really haven't heard that phrase tossed about anymore! To counter that, however, as an L.A. ex-pat, it sure looks as though a lot of the filming was done in the Hollywood Hills…But IMDb said there was no INFO on filming locations, so I can't really be sure! If you look at the actors and the people involved in making LADRON, it is a sort of an International Hispanic "Who's Who!" In the Director's chair, we have Joe Menendez, born in NYC, Cuban-American; His life-partner, Roni Eguia Menendez is credited as #1 Producer, there is no background on his specific ethnicity, but the surname Eguia seems to be of Basque origin; The principal leads are: Fernando Colunga, born in Mexico City; Miguel Varoni, although born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he was raised in Colombia and most people consider him as such; Saul Lisazo is from Argentina, but has lived in Spain and now in Mexico City; Gabriel Soto, from Mexico City; Julie Gonzalo was born in Buenos Aires, but has lived in Miami since she was 8; Sonya Smith, of Telenovela Fame, born in Philly, she is Venezuelan-American. Most of the rest of the cast seem to be of Hispanic origin, but born in the USA! LADRON is done in a style that is quite tongue in cheek. I'd say almost a little too much so at times, making for a rather Cavalier experience for cast and crew, who seem to be having a lot of fun making the film! Does this insider merriment translate into viewer enjoyment? In general, yes, but not always. In any case, I think the vast majority of people will find it breezy, fun and enjoyable! Just under $7 Million Gross for most movies released in the U.S. would be considered dismal…Yet, LADRON is the highest grossing film produced and released in Spanish EVER in the U.S.! Well, at least until 2008…I can't be sure about after that.Yes, the film is in Spanish…Well, at least about 98% of the dialog is in Spanish. Would a non-Spanish speaker enjoy the movie as much? The answer to that has to be "NO", of course, but that doesn't mean that it isn't worth seeing just because you don't speak Spanish. In fact, if you are interested in the dynamics of cultural differences, you might find the interaction of Hispanics from many different countries within the U.S. to be rather interesting and amusing. How well done are the subtitles in English? Since I never pay much attention to them, I'm not really sure…But I did notice there did not SEEM to be much in the way of gaps where there were no on screen subtitles! Sorry, but that's about the only help I can provide in that area! 7*.....ENJOY!/DISFRUTELA! Any comments, questions or observations, in English o en Español, are most welcome!.....
Jay Harris
That translation sounds very familiar, Yes, dear readers, we have seen this type film many times over the years.The Oceans 11-13 series, comes to mind first.The film was made by a Mexican-American film company & has a large cast of actors famous on Mexican Television. The cast & crew live in Los Angeles & have their roots either here or in other Latin-American countries. The setting is Los Angeles, most of which was filmed in a beautiful house & grounds in one of the more upscale areas.The entire cast is excellent,all aspects of the movie are first rate.The general idea of this tale is we have a villain, a snake-oil salesmen who sells phony health remedies to gullible TV listeners. Enter 2 righteous dudes who form a gang to take this sleaze-ball downIt is a fun ride all the way, with a few surprises.I was laughing out loud all the way through, I think you all will as well. This movie has none of the phoniness of the Oceans 11-13 series,Minimum of violence,next to no sexual stuff & no songs to disrupt the comedy.its pure fun. It is in Spanish with excellent closed captioning.next to no objectionable language as well.Ratings ***1/2 (out of 4) 94 points (out of 100) IMDb 9 (out of 10)
sbekam
Ladrón que roba a ladrón or Bandoleros is a stupid movie which apparently is made in U.S. in Spanish language. Looking at the rating of 6.9 from IMDb, I figured it must be a good movie and I bought the DVD. The rating in IMDb is usually accurate and this is the first time I find it disappointing. I will probably end up giving this movie away since I don't think I will ever watch it again. This movie is a repeat of other successful or (fairly successful) movies made in the past. However, with bad directing, acting, boring plots, etc.. While movies such as Ocean's 11, 12, etc. are available, don't waist your time on this unless you are content with a mediocre movie.
Venus-25
Not a deep film, no moral lesson learned (except that Karma is a female dog with PMS), but entertaining and amusing.Fernando Colunga and Miguel Varoni are likable and clever as the two master thieves who conspire to steal an ill-gotten fortune. There is almost a Rat-Pack feel to them; they certainly have the attitude. I think sometimes that Miguel Varoni wants to be the Hispanic John Cleese; this must help to explain the contrast between his slightly sleazy look (awkward ponytail and stubble) vs Colunga's perfect grooming and tooth-paste-commercial smile. He has that perfect, ideal masculine face that belongs on a big screen; my one disappointment is that we didn't get to see more of his equally perfect body.The other actors, especially Gabriel Soto as the muscle-man and the great Saul Lisazo as the greedy villain, are amusing and look like they're having a good time in this film. The Mission-Impossible style heist is not as smooth as in that classic TV program, but clever, amusing, and with more than a few jokes about what it is to be a Latino immigrant in the US.The early scenes of immigrants falling for the phony products and the TV studio scenes poke fun at the infomercials for sexually-related pills and phony weight-loss products one sees on Telemundo. Every time I see those commercials I always wonder how the actors can get through them with straight faces. There are a few things you're in the dark about on the way to the end (which I won't reveal) but suffice to say that the ending of this picture is very satisfying.
