The movie left me with very mixed feelings. I'm a sucker for this kind of movies, that are slow paced, have lots of symbolic imagery and but told in a light-hearted way. I admire the movie more for it's technical achievements: It's great use of sound and editing. A good sense of visuals that stick with you. It's the story part that left me a bit disappointed, especially after reading about the real story.
Our protagonist is one of the dumbest individuals out there but at the same time he comes up with a pretty intricate way to devise a heist. We get a good view of the psychology of a good-for-nothing guy who wants to prove himself to himself, his family, to the world and to history. The movie has some interesting things to say about the ethics of museums and heritage of cultures. But it's more like an afterthought than an actual deep dive. I don't now if it was intentional but Juan never really does become likeable throughout the journey, not even a bit (not like his sidekick at least). He stumbles through his life and close calls like Peter Sellers. In fact, a lot of the images and music is very reminiscent of the 60's, although the movie is supposed to be taking place in the 80's which kind of confused me several times. The last half of the movie is kind of meandering in my opinion and the movie could have easily be trimmed down to 100 minutes. But it was still an interesting experience/insight into Mexican culture, although emotionally it didn't really grab me.
Our protagonist is one of the dumbest individuals out there but at the same time he comes up with a pretty intricate way to devise a heist. We get a good view of the psychology of a good-for-nothing guy who wants to prove himself to himself, his family, to the world and to history. The movie has some interesting things to say about the ethics of museums and heritage of cultures. But it's more like an afterthought than an actual deep dive. I don't now if it was intentional but Juan never really does become likeable throughout the journey, not even a bit (not like his sidekick at least). He stumbles through his life and close calls like Peter Sellers. In fact, a lot of the images and music is very reminiscent of the 60's, although the movie is supposed to be taking place in the 80's which kind of confused me several times. The last half of the movie is kind of meandering in my opinion and the movie could have easily be trimmed down to 100 minutes. But it was still an interesting experience/insight into Mexican culture, although emotionally it didn't really grab me.