STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning
A water firm has fitted a faulty pump in a village in Ecuador, that has caused an outbreak of typhus that started with the general population, before moving on to the military, who went berserk and started shooting the inhabitants. Former CIA agent turned talk show host Jack Begosian (Andy Garcia) is approached to travel to Ecuador and find rebel leader Francisco Francis (Forest Whitaker) who broke in to their offices and took some sensitive data. But with their dirty secret potentially being exposed, the company will stop at nothing to seek a more favorable outcome.
Corporate corruption is at the heart of this above average straight to DVD thriller, which casts an intelligent glance over how the names and brands we've come to love have a dark reality behind them. From the outset, it's clear we're dealing with a superior effort from a very hit and miss crop, with ambition and scope sourly lacking from many other such entries, providing some serious food for thought and really requiring your attention throughout.
But what really makes it stand out is the lead performance from Garcia, who proves you can still care about your work even if the pay isn't so good and it will raise your profile a lot less. He injects his role here with a steely, quiet intensity that somehow manages to hold your attention throughout. Co star Whitaker also refuses to sleepwalk through his role, and a host of other co stars, including Eva Longoria, add a nice topping to the cake. All of this is wonderful, even in light of the relentlessly heavy, humourless tone.
This is the kind of more high scale production that is sadly being pushed to the sidelines in these recessionary times, in favour of more low brow, bigger budget crowd pleasing stuff. In more favourable times, it would have gotten the theatrical release it at least deserved. ***
A water firm has fitted a faulty pump in a village in Ecuador, that has caused an outbreak of typhus that started with the general population, before moving on to the military, who went berserk and started shooting the inhabitants. Former CIA agent turned talk show host Jack Begosian (Andy Garcia) is approached to travel to Ecuador and find rebel leader Francisco Francis (Forest Whitaker) who broke in to their offices and took some sensitive data. But with their dirty secret potentially being exposed, the company will stop at nothing to seek a more favorable outcome.
Corporate corruption is at the heart of this above average straight to DVD thriller, which casts an intelligent glance over how the names and brands we've come to love have a dark reality behind them. From the outset, it's clear we're dealing with a superior effort from a very hit and miss crop, with ambition and scope sourly lacking from many other such entries, providing some serious food for thought and really requiring your attention throughout.
But what really makes it stand out is the lead performance from Garcia, who proves you can still care about your work even if the pay isn't so good and it will raise your profile a lot less. He injects his role here with a steely, quiet intensity that somehow manages to hold your attention throughout. Co star Whitaker also refuses to sleepwalk through his role, and a host of other co stars, including Eva Longoria, add a nice topping to the cake. All of this is wonderful, even in light of the relentlessly heavy, humourless tone.
This is the kind of more high scale production that is sadly being pushed to the sidelines in these recessionary times, in favour of more low brow, bigger budget crowd pleasing stuff. In more favourable times, it would have gotten the theatrical release it at least deserved. ***