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ACTOR
Ray LiottaAndy GarciaEsai MoralesArmand Assante
DIRECTOR
James Cotten
SYNOPSICS
La linea (2009) is a Spanish,English,French movie. James Cotten has directed this movie. Ray Liotta,Andy Garcia,Esai Morales,Armand Assante are the starring of this movie. It was released in 2009. La linea (2009) is considered one of the best Action,Crime,Drama,Thriller movie in India and around the world.
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La linea (2009) Reviews
A classic character study
La Linea is a great film, but it is also a bit of a trick, which may hurt the film eventually. No doubt that the distributors and the Hollywood machine will try to market this film as a topical action film snatched right out of the headlines. In actuality, La Linea is a classic character study of several complex people who converge and/or collide in the very dangerous city of Tijuana, Mexico. Ray Liotta plays a hired assassin (whose paymaster we don't know until the end), who heads down in the underbelly of Tijuana to track down a the newly installed head of the Cartel (Esai Morales). The problem is that Esai Morales' character is trying to move the Cartels business from Cocaine (which, in this story, is approved by the US government), to Afghani Heroin. This decision sets into motion an internal struggle for control of the crime syndicate, as well as triggers the US government to send in assassins to get rid of the problem. Sounds like an action movie for Dolph Lundgren, right? No. Interestingly enough, La Linea is really a multiple character study: An assassin haunted by guilt. An uber-violent Cartel leader that has to go to confession everyday. The assassins sidekick who is more interested in local hookers than getting the hit done. A local prostitute and single mother who takes a stranger in and cares for him. These are all story lines that thread through this very dark tail. I did enjoy the film, and I would definitely recommend it. My only hope is that the powers that be market the film for what it is, so that people who are looking to see a Dolph Lundgren film, don't pick it up and are disappointed. This is a very well done film, with beautiful cinematography and from what I understand, completely independently financed. We need more like it.
Effective sun-drenched crime snapshot
Although you'd be forgiven for mistaking THE LINE for an action flick, it turns out to be anything but: this is in actual fact a character study of various interacting and rival personalities in a violent Mexican city. Ray Liotta bags the central and most interesting role as a hit-man traumatised by an event in his past and given the opportunity to make amends in the present. Against him is gang leader Pelon, played to the hilt by the chilling Esai Morales. This is a guy who thinks nothing of torturing rivals to death and who fully deserves his comeuppance – should it ever come about. The supporting cast is made up of an excellent ensemble of actors, including those better known for B-movies (Danny Trejo and Gary Daniels both have brief henchman roles) as well as more familiar faces. Andy Garcia, who's been off our screens for quite some time, is particularly interesting as the former gangster wasting away from a terminal illness. Also look out for Bruce Davison, an unrecognisable Armand Assante and the ever-underrated Joe Morton. This may not be an action movie, but there is at least one splendid shoot-out to enjoy. In any case, the entire film is well shot and the script holds your attention in the snappy, heartfelt dialogue scenes as well as the thriller elements. Comparing it to other recent gangster movies, it comes in under CITY OF GOD but above GOMORRAH.
Underrated at 5.2
Wow, it's getting to where I really can't trust IMDb ratings to decide what to watch anymore. This movie is underrated. I suspect many people who rated it low, wanted more explosions and car chases. This is not an action film. It is a subtle yet intense look at how a person can be extremely tough yet so very vulnerable at the same time. There are no feel good characters. No role model action heroes. No clear cut lines between good and bad. Other reviewers have noted that it was confusing. Admittedly the script was confusing at first. It wasn't clear who was motivated by what, and what flashbacks meant what to whom. But about halfway through the film it starts to come together beautifully and continues to do so to the interesting and somewhat moving end. If you stop waiting for the gratuitous action scenes which never happen, and just watch the story, it works well. Yes, some plot points seem a little unrealistic, but that's why I put the story at only a 7. While the story is good, the acting is all around superb. I have never been the biggest Liotta fan. He's good, but like a lot of tough guy character actors, sometimes his tough guy persona crosses the line into bluffery in my opinion. Not here. He was near perfect. Almost everyone was, including minor characters played by people I have never heard of. No fake looking bluffery, nothing overdone. I would give this a 7 for story and direction, but the acting puts it up to 8. Also, the music was as wonderfully chosen as the actors. There was a point in the middle of the movie where one character began to cry. We aren't shown explicitly why, no details, but we are shown enough to understand and fill in her story for ourselves. I found that one scene, with the song from Melody Gardot, particularly beautiful. In a nutshell, I would describe this as a smoulderingly intense drama. If you are looking for an action thriller you will be disappointed.
Average ...
It is very difficult to give something new to the audience. Specially when talking about such a controversial topics as Drug dealing, mafia, terrorism, cartels Etc. Being Mexican myself I looked forward to see how a new director would portray this "not to take lightly" topic. The first impression I got as I began to watch the movie was the serious influence of Steven Soderbergh's "Traffic", a fabulous movie which provides an unusual vision of the drug underworld. As the movie continued it was not difficult to identify some the similarity with some other movies, not only character wise, but also concerning plot, conflict and even cinematography. Shields' character is a weird mix of Denzel's Creasy in Man on fire and Pierce Brosnan's hit-man in Matador. Both very well structured characters, but when combined do not have the same effect. It is difficult to be bring something new to Drug dealing movies, particularly because everything has pretty much been said about dealing drugs; so when a director tries to give some extra dramatic flavor, it has a contradictory effect, It is appealing but not very coherent. Check out this movie it is not completely dismissible, specially if you take into account its independent nature. But do not expect to see anything worth referring to in the future.
Not quite cutting the mustard.
I'd never heard of this film at all but snapped it up when I saw the cast and read the back of the jacket. Suffice to say it didn't quite live up to expectations and once again proved the age old adage of 'don't judge a book (or a DVD) by its cover'. Watchable for the most part, this is a film that adds up at the end to a little bit less than the sum of all its parts. I guessed correctly that the director was pretty new to this game and I must say those behind the scenes did pretty well to secure Liotta, Garcia and Asante for this. In a nutshell, when the Taliban attempt to form an alliance with a powerful northern Mexican drug cartel, supplying drugs in exchange for being able to use their smuggling network, they attract the attention of US intelligence agencies and the covert ops heat is brought down on them (or so it appears). At the same time there's a power struggle for control of the cartel amongst the heirs apparent to the throne. Little is seen of officialdom and we are instead treated to local operatives/soldiers of fortune and their controllers south of the border. There is no shortage of violence, tempered by the character of Liotta, a man haunted and tormented by the female victim of a previous hit. Naturally he's seeking some kind of redemption which is nicely and conveniently laid out at the end of the film along with a twist that merely serves to undermine much of any credibility previously established throughout the rest of the film. The film is short of dialogue and any real character development, instead relying on visuals and the score to create atmosphere, set scenes and keep the story moving along, Some of the editing and camera work seems a bit attention deficit disorder orientated as well, with perhaps a time limit of a couple of seconds placed on any one shot. I didn't find it too much of a problem but I know that it's a major annoyance for some people. This film was let down badly both with the twist ending and the inclusion of a 'Taliban' plot, both of which were unnecessary and I thought damaging to the credibility of the rest of the film. Not only that, but after an hour and a half or so of portraying Tijuana as a seedy sh!th0le full of thugs, thieves, gangsters and hookers, the director had the audacity to insert a big 'what a wonderful place Tijuana is and what wonderful people live there' message just at the start of the closing credits. I thought this summed up the whole project quite well, not quite doing what the makers thought they were doing. Worth a look, but not a must see.