SLIFF 2010 Review: RAGE

Review by Mike Gregory

Sebastián Cordero’s 2009 film, RAGE reminded me of two films, Steve McQueen’s 2008
film “Hunger,” and George Sluzier’s 1988 thriller, “The Vanishing.” Considering how much I
despised both of those films, bearing similarity to each of them is not a good sign. RAGE is just
as pretentious as “Hunger,” and just as boring as “The Vanishing.”

Films that take themselves seriously are not automatically bad films (unless the situation calls for
it not to, but never mind). Some great films have been serious dramas. But a film of any kind
has to give us something that makes us not hate ourselves for watching it. “Rage” doesn’t do
that. In every area, this Mexican film is a failure. It’s neither romantic nor suspenseful. Worst
of all, it’s a film so boring that I could barely get myself to hate it.

Jose Maria (Gustavo Sánchez Parra) is a man with an anger problem. He’s in love with Rosa
(Martina García), but anyone who gets in his way ends up a corpse. After he accidentally kills a
man, Jose Maria goes to see Rosa at the house where she’s a maid, but she’s not there, and when
the owners come home early, he ends up having to stay there.

It’s a great premise (Hitchcock would have loved this), but unfortunately the film doesn’t do
anything with it. It’s all premise and nothing else. The storyline is barren, and although there are
a few plot turns, I simply didn’t care enough for them to mean anything.

The film’s saving grace is Martina García. If there’s anything in this film that works, she’s
it. Despite her character having to be so in love with Jose Maria that she may have mental
problems, I felt for her…a little. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about her co-star, Gustavo
Sánchez Parra. While he’s adequate when he is low-key, when he has to emote, the result is
almost laughable. No one else merits much attention.

The reason why this movie misfires so badly is easy to define: it can’t decide what it wants to be.
Is it a romantic melodrama? A reworked version of “Crime and Punishment?” Or is it a horror
movie (the atmosphere is right for one). By trying to be all of them, it ends up being none. The
result is dud that should not have made it into the festival.

RAGE will play during the 19th Annual Stella Artois St. Louis International Film Festival on Monday, November 15th at 7:00 pm and Tuesday, November 16th at 9:00 pm at the Plaza Frontenac Cinema.