Lower City

Lower City **

"Lower City" is the love child that was born when "Y Tu Mama Tambian" and "City of God" mixed. However, those two great films ended up birthing one that's not nearly as interesting, and almost a direct copy of the former, with the intricate style of the latter.

It has a pretty typical story. Nothing special. Two lifelong friends, Deco, and Naldinho who have known each other since the dawn of the time, own a boat together, and travel from place to place, almost as nomads. One day, in a store, they spot a beautiful young woman named Karinna, who is aiming to go to the same place that the two boys are. She is a prostitute, and after the two men pay for her services, she ends up having a great time, and sticks around with them until they end up on shore. While in a bar, she decides to go off with another man who could take her where she needs to go quicker. However, in the bar, the two men get into a fight, where Naldinho ends up stabbed in the stomach. Karinna decides to stay until he is healed, but ends up getting involved with Deco, who is instantly infatuated with her. When Naldinho is healed, he teases Deco about the fact that he wants to give his heart to a whore, but then he finds himself interested in her as well. And now the one girl that they both want to give their hearts too, even though they vowed not to ruin their friendship, ends up resulting in the downfall of the bond between the men.

There is just nothing new here. It's a tired plot, a dull love triangle, with nothing new even brought to the director's table. It takes the two films I mentioned above, and mixes them, creating a carbon copy of something that was done already. It's not even worth seeing for the preformances. I was happy in the end that not all of the loose ends were tied up, because that's not what life is about, but that can't save a lifeless story from being charged with power. Watch "Y Tu Mama Tambian," and "City of God" as a double feature instead. It's longer, but well worth the time spent.