1/11/2024 0 Comments There are no saintsNevertheless, she cannot prevent Julio from slipping out to see his father. Meantime, Nadia shields young Julio from his dastardly dad. Once out of prison, Niente visits his ex-wife, Nadia (Paz Vega of “Spanglish”), who has taken up with Vincent Rice (Neal McDonough of “Boon”), a depraved gun runner. Everybody called him ‘the Jesuit’ because he could loosen tongues with the same skill as that notorious order of priests during the wicked Spanish Inquisition. Before he was locked up, Niente had forged a reputation as a vicious cartel enforcer. Predatory pistoleros will pony up at the prospect of carving out a reputation when they hear about Niente’s decision to go AWOL. Meantime, when Niente mentions forsaking the cartel, a former associate warns him about the fallout. Our protagonist struggles to set his son straight. Julio paints messianic portraits of Niente suffering on the cross. Once out of his Huntsville Prison cell, this felon sets out to see his young son, Julio (Keidrich Sellati of “Rockaway”), who worships him as if he were a saint. A Texas State Trooper dying from terminal cancer had confessed to planting incriminating evidence that convicted Niente. Neto Niente (José María Yazpik of “The Obscure Spring”), the last person anybody would want to tangle with under any circumstances, has been rotting away on death row.Īs the film unfolds, Niente discovers he will be released from prison after four years. Audaciously, Ulloa and Schrader seek to align our sympathies with this protagonist who is an utterly vile specimen of humanity. Our protagonist pins a woman’s hands to a table with steak knives when she refuses to answer his questions. Some violence, however, is clearly repellent. Exciting and suspenseful, these episodic displays of fireworks and fisticuffs will gratify adrenalin junkies. Most of the violence depicts hair-trigger gangsters swapping lead and smashing heads. Now, filmmakers must resort to greater extremes. The mere threat of death and dismemberment was once enough to make audiences cringe. “Taxi Driver” scenarist Paul Schrader has recycled elements from his better films for this abrasive, R-rated, shoot’em up that cuts its unsavory anti-hero no slack. A nihilistic exercise in misogyny, sadism, murder, and revenge, Hispanic helmer Alfonso Pineda Ulloa’s unsavory actioneer “There Are No Saints” (**1/2 OUT OF ****) pulls no punches in its relentless depiction of mayhem and mutilation.
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