Pistoleros review by The Grim Ringler

PISTOLEROS

Seeing some the movies that come out, I can’t help but wonder if the rest of the world is just getting the last wave of what was cool in America ten years ago. Sure, those films were cool, and some still remain so, but, well, we have by now seen the original film, two good ones inspired by it, and twelve that aped said ‘cool film’ while adding nothing. Which is all to say – been there done that. Alas, no one seems to have told the Danes that we’ve seen the TARANTINO schtick a lot by now and, well, we’ve moved on.

PISTOLEROS is the tale of two young filmmakers, a director and his producer, who set out to make a documentary about an infamous heist that involved some notorious gangsters from their area. The two track down one of the peripheral characters involved in the heist who claims to know the truth of what happened and, for some money and the price of a few beers, he’ll tell his tale. The story they get is fascinating but seems to keep skirting the heart of what happened so, when a friend of this hood shows up, claiming know the ‘real truth’ and who is happy to tell his story for the mere price of a beer. With both stories told together, the filmmakers begin to get an idea of what really happened to the money and those involved in the heist itself but, as the tale is told, the question arises as to how much is fact and how much is simply gangland legend.

An ably shot and directed film, there isn’t anything particularly wrong with the film aside from the fact that it’s something I have seen too many times by now. The action is good, and they do what they can with their budget constraints but the story really just feels like RODRIGUEZ was channeled to tell a TARANTINO story and, with the addition of a bit during the credits, left me perplexed as to what they were quite trying to say with the film. The DVD looks good, though the extras are pretty sparse. Certainly not a ‘bad’ film but a mediocre one that just doesn’t have the soul of the films it was inspired by.

…c…




6 out of 10 Jackasses
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