Midaq Alley

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Audience Member (**): [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon13.gif[/img] Overlong and too overdramatic at times for me. Fair at best. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member With Pulp Fiction influencing every single story in the world, Midaq Alley (El callejón de los milagros) was the first Mexican film told in a very similar narrative. To be fair, it does it extraordinary well. Using the same scene as a starting point (a dominoes game in a bar), the movie tells three different stories that intertwine in a vecindad or housing project (the alley the title refers to) First we have an aging macho man (Ernesto Gómez Cruz, never better), the owner of the bar, who suddenly craves the young flesh of a very effeminate male customer (a wonderful Esteban Soberanes). Then we get into Salma Hayek territory, as an ambitious woman who is torn between getting married with the old rich man of the vecindad (an also splendid Claudio Obregón), or becoming involved in an proficient prostitution ring. Then we get into the comedic part of the movie, where a hilarious kinda Ugly Betty aging woman (the marvelous Margarita Sanz) falls in love with a much younger guy. The movie has a consistent plethora of wonderful performances, and goes from drama to comedy to tragedy without any problem in its structure. Among the best work ever done by María Rojo, Delia Casanova, Luis Felipe Tovar and the then unknown Juan Manuel Bernal and Tiaré Scanda. And yes, even Salma it's OK. Bruno Bichir is probably the one -as always- overacted and out of place (just watch Crónica de un desayuno). Highly recommended. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Although the repeated action made the first part seem slow it ended strongly. Selma was particularly good in the last scene. As with many slasher films I never understand why people bring knives to gun fights, or fail to empty the clip when they have the chance. I guess that brand of incompetence is supposed to make them seem like better people. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member saw it whn i was 14 - saw it again now at 21 ! and honestly it still is as thought provoking as it was then... though now there's a far better understanding.. no wonder its in the catagories of being the Best Mexican Movie along with Pan's Labyrinth Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Truly fantastic and rich characters abound in this very sad story about tough lives in the Mexico City streets. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Amores Perros has a very similar narrative style to this movie, so I'm wondering why this doesn't get namedropped as often for Mexican film recommendations. Really good, and cool to see Salma Hayek's second movie. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Midaq Alley

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