Trade

Trade ***

Directed by Marco Kreuzpaintner
Written by Jose Rivera

Starring:
Kevin Kline as Ray
Alicja Bachleda-Curus as Veronica
Paulina Gaitan as Adriana
Kathleen Gati as Irina Silayev
Pavel Lychnikoff as Vadim Youchenko
Anthony Crivello as Detective Henderson
Kate del Castillo as Laura
Cesar Ramos as Jorge

119 Minutes(Rated R for disturbing sexual material involving minors, violence including a rape, language and some drug content. )
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If you have yet to see the trailer for the simple and straightforward, but well made, film "Trade" I have a hard time recommending it or not. For those who have seen it, it is undeniably brilliant-possibly one of the best trailers in recent memory, along with 'Jesse James." It is powerful, rather haunting, and its even possible that you might shed a tear, and its is joined by a Rufus Wainwright song which is kind of beautiful in its own way. The trailer will certainly make you want to see the movie. However I could tell you not to watch the trailer because it really does almost reveal the entire plot and story, as well as all the twists. It took away a certain amount of tension away from my experience, but I could still save your's.

"Trade" does not end up being the masterpiece that the trailer promised, but it did end up being quite a good movie, despite its flaws, and its sometimes ability to teeter onto the edge of trying to be too much like "Amores Perros" or "Babel." It could have been better than what it was, but the finished product is never dull, well acted, and even a bit tense and shocking at times. I really do wish that it were just a little better, and I honestly debated between three stars and two and a half stars for a while. At the start we watch three girls getting rounded up by sex traders-we have Veronica, who has come from Poland after being tricked into an LA vacation, as well as her friend. Veronica is captured, but her friend escapes, getting hit by a car seconds later. They also get Adriana, a young girl of thirteen who goes out bike riding one day and doesn't come back. Her brother Jorge feels responsible-he bought her the bike-and goes to cross the border to get her back. He hides in the trunk of Texas cop Ray, who is out looking for information about a daughter that he just learned he had, and decides to help Jorge find his sister. They learn that she is about to be auctioned off online to the highest bidder, and since nobody will help them since it will cut into the grand scheme of the New Jersey's plans for the sex traders, Ray and Jorge decide to take matters into their own hands.

Along with Ray and Jorge's journey, we see the journey of Veronica and even Adriana, and this is where the more shocking portions of the movie are. The whole sex trade idea is a horrifying thought, and some of the images here are even worse-but not as intense as I hoped it would. There is a rather heart stopping segment where the Wainwright song is used, in a plot development I really could not see coming at all, even though the trailer almost hints at it-I'm telling you, it's one of the best trailers I've seen, but also one of the most revealing. It's terrible. Now the acting on both stories is quite good-Kline is at his best here, and its great since we haven't really seen him in a while in such a big role. There is also Alicja Bachleda-Curus as Veronica, the Polish girl that is captured, and Paulina Gaitan as Adriana who never goes over the top even during her most emotional scenes. She does the disturbed yet scared and anxious mixture very well. Perhaps the only performance that goes a bit over the top is Cesar Ramos as Jorge. The way he says certain things, and just his overly acting makes him seem more cartoonish than an actual flesh and blood character.

I said "Trade" was not perfect, and it certainly is far from it. At times the conflict and resolution seemed a bit too easy-and the ending maybe a little too pat, even though the mystery of Kline's daughter is never fully solved, although a possible solution is touched upon, but I'm glad they did not go that full route. Lets suspicions remain that way. Certain scenes like the actually bidding portion are not tense at all, and certainly not helped by a rather bad score. I figured the outcome of that segment because there would be no way to advance the story, but developments during the pick-up will make you sit up straight and pay attention. At times it tries to be this year's "Babel," trying to connect several different people in other countries to talk about how this is a global issue, and then it tries to be a mixture of "City of God" or "Amores Perros," with the strong handheld camera work during the most dramatic segments, and the similar location does not help. But I recommend this film for little moments where it finds it own voice, and finds it own storytelling methods, and this is where "Trade" becomes it most powerful. It's a minor drama in this big sea of films out now, but it is worth finding and seeing for the times where it becomes successful. And it's bleak as any film could be-although a strong notch below "In the Valley of Elah" which has increased suicide rates. But a good story can be depressing. Look at this content, after all.

Now Playing At:
Angelika Film Center
AMC Empire 25