There Are No Saints

Good movie!

Jose Maria Yazpik's performance was impressive. It is a simple story to save a son, but the composition is well organized. I think it's a great movie for killing time. In particular, the action acting that is not excessive is good, and the filming of Maxico is impressive. The last part is a bit of a lack of strength. There may be some disappointment for those who haven't seen the movie yet, but for those who are used to big movies. A man nicknamed "Jesuit" is imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. When his wife is killed, his son is kidnapped and taken to Mexico, he rescues his son and makes a sophisticated and dangerous plan to avenge the murder.

This film start with the flashbacks of a convict "Neto", and the radio broadcasting about him scene! As turnout, this film is about a father "Neto" need to save his son "Julio" from the taken of a villain "Sans", who want to take revenge on Neto! Entire film full of quite intense action scene! Such as, shooting scene, stabbing scene, things broken scene, explosion scene, bloody gore scene, martial art fighting scene, car chase scene, and car crash scene scene! Make the film quite watchable! At the end, after killing Sans, Neto found out his son already died in the well! That's it! A quite entertain film!

Some reviewer has said Tim Roth pulls this movie through, but good as he is, Mr Roth is in it for about 3 minutes (I guess he was cast to entice viewers) But as an action drama bit silly, very violent and visceral, I don't consider my 90 minutes wasted. And Ron Perlman is only in for about three minutes. Found the soundtrack annoying and somewhat out of place, but if you like violent drama, good characters and a story, give it a go.

Greetings again from the darkness. If you've ever wondered what it would look like if the often-great Paul Schrader wrote his version of the Liam Neeson action-revenge film, TAKEN (2008), well here is your answer. Okay, so it's not the exact story line, but it's close enough for conversation, and director Alfonso Pineda Ulloa seems happy to work with a script that is not Schrader's best, yet clearly bears his stamp. The esteemed screenwriter has had recent success with THE CARD COUNTER (2021) and FIRST REFORMED (2017), both of which he also directed. And his track record of screenplays includes such remarkable work as TAXI DRIVER (1976), HARDCORE (1979), AMERICAN GIGGOLO (1980), RAGING BULL (1980), and AFFLICTION (1997). Jose Maria Yazpik stars as Neto Niente, known on the street as "The Jesuit". We first see him being released from prison in Huntsville, Texas after serving only four years as a convicted murderer. As Neto is leaving, the jailer says, "I'm sure I'll see you again." Neto's sleazy attorney (played by Tim Roth) recommends he leave town and stay away. Of course, Neto says he first needs to see his young son. Julio (Keidrich Salladi, "The Americans" son Henry) is happy to see his beloved father, but Neto's wife Nadia (Paz Vega, SEX AND LUCIA, 2019) is frightened for their safety because her boyfriend, Vincent (Neal McDonough, fun to watch in two of my favorites "Justified" and "Boomtown"), is a psychopath criminal kingpin, and his reaction to Neto's visit is murder and kidnapping. Before learning that his son has been kidnapped, Neto tries to calm the waters with those pursuing him. This includes the local police and the Mexican cartel that he once worked for. We see flashbacks of Neto's work and it's obvious the film's title fits. During all of this, he meets Inez (Shannyn Sossamon) a capitalistic strip club worker. The two team up to track Julio to Mexico, but not until Neto has had a few brutally violent run-ins with the cartel and a gun dealer who goes by the name Jet Rink (James Dean's character in GIANT was Jett Rink). The gun dealer is played by Tommy Flanagan ("Sons of Anarchy"), and their meeting is yet another brutally violent scene. Neto is a tough, confident, man, who despite his particular set of skills, remains mostly quiet; however, he is consistently involved in brutally violent interactions, which is why I keep referring the film's brutal violence. I'd like to say this is an exaggeration, but it's not. And just in case some viewers need more, Act 3 ratchets things up a notch. Ron Perlman (a hardworking actor recently seen in last year's NIGHTMARE ALLEY) shows up as Sans, some kind of crime lord who has a dungeon perfectly set up for torture and imprisonment, and director Ulloa takes full advantage. The film's opening quote, paraphrased from the book of Exodus, reads "The sins of the father shall be visited upon the sons." This is a B-movie packed with thrills, adrenaline, energy, and yes ... brutal violence. It's a world of payback and retribution that never offers Neto the chance for the spiritual new beginning he hopes for. Schrader's script lacks the character depth of his best work, and seems to be aimed at a group of viewers with a very particular set of tastes. In theaters, On Digital, and On Demand beginning May 27, 2022.

Jose Maria Yazpik's performance was impressive. It is a simple story to save a son, but the composition is well organized. I think it's a great movie for killing time. In particular, the action acting that is not excessive is good, and the filming of Maxico is impressive. The last part is a bit of a lack of strength. There may be some disappointment for those who haven't seen the movie yet, but for those who are used to big movies. A man nicknamed "Jesuit" is imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. When his wife is killed, his son is kidnapped and taken to Mexico, he rescues his son and makes a sophisticated and dangerous plan to avenge the murder.

This film start with the flashbacks of a convict "Neto", and the radio broadcasting about him scene! As turnout, this film is about a father "Neto" need to save his son "Julio" from the taken of a villain "Sans", who want to take revenge on Neto! Entire film full of quite intense action scene! Such as, shooting scene, stabbing scene, things broken scene, explosion scene, bloody gore scene, martial art fighting scene, car chase scene, and car crash scene scene! Make the film quite watchable! At the end, after killing Sans, Neto found out his son already died in the well! That's it! A quite entertain film!

I wonder if there is a film recycling plant somewhere. They take in all the old films, plots, scenes, etc.. melt them down and then reuse. Perhaps this plant has quality control, all the good bits go into a few good films. All the stuff that is left and no one wants, seems to have ended up in this attempt. Seen it all before and better. There was no acting, in fact it would have been more fun and believable to have wooden mannequins in the film. There was no story. The motivations of the characters was not explained. No idea what Tim Roth's character was about, other than an overblown cockney geezer. Choreography was daft, the lead could seemingly dodge bullets by smirking. This is an unnecessary film.

So how do you take a cast that's as good as this and turn out a bad movie? Apparently really easy. We have montage of guy exercising, montage of guy getting dressed, questions like "where do you want to go?" Being answered with "lets get out of here" and someone digging through a draw full of cuttlery to find the sharp knife because that's where everyone keeps the sharp knives right? Under everything else. Not in a knife block or in a seperate drawer? That's all within the first 10 minutes. Just awful.

Tim Roth is excellent but too under-used, i recognised the lead from Netflixs Narcos, i like Neal Mcdonut (but don't remember seeing brian cox), shannon sossaman used to be hot but not in this.. overall story is ok but not original, some scenes added for shock value but it is just a 90min turn brain off and watch if nothing else is on..