Here we go with another Tarantino style of action film that has no heart and hates all of its characters. Or at least has no respect for any of them. Javier Bardem plays Romeo Dolorosa who is not only a criminal but one that is involved in voodoo and has to sacrifice someone before finishing a score. Rosie Perez is Perdita Durango and she's also a wild criminal sort who gets involved with Romeo. They kidnap two teenagers (Harley Cross and Aimee Graham) for the sacrifice and James Gandolfini is a DEA agent following all of them. After the success of "Pulp Fiction" a lot of independent filmmakers thought it would be easy to make ultra violent stories and call it art. This was a tough film to sit through as we watch one sick episode after another. Don Stroud plays some Mexican mob guy who is also a pedophile. Perez and Bardem both rape the teenagers. Characters are hit by cars and mutilated in fights and as I watched this I had to keep reminding myself that the people who made this offensive dreck try and convince us its all dark humor. I loved "Pulp Fiction" but it spawned so many mutant excuses for films. Really despicable. Another thing I noticed was that for all the ugly images their is one inconsistency that stood out. Perez plays a real wild tramp of a woman. But in her sex scenes she keeps her clothes on. You can't help but notice. On the other hand Aimee Graham is just like her sister Heather and has no problem baring her body. If their is any positive thing I saw it was Perez. She's always been a good actress and it appeared that she could have really shined in this role had the film been written better. The scene at the end of the film where she is crying was just a brief moment to remind us what she could have done with this role. I'm not easily offended and God knows I didn't take this film seriously but where do viewers draw the line? More important, where do filmmakers?
Review of Perdita Durango
