Really difficult to say whether this is worth watching or not. With an ending as convoluted and confusing as the rest of the film yet a myriad of questions and interesting quirkiness it's really hard to recommend watching this as much as it is to give it a miss.
I like the fact that it eventually shows the grittiness and danger of South America to foreigners rather than painting it as a picture of paradise that a lot of movies portray. It quickly goes from showing the friendly staff and glamour of five star living in Acapulco to the seedier and much more deadly reality of existance there not only if your foreign but if your foreign and rich enough to attract the attention of criminals.
I liked the fact that your kept guessing what exactly Neil is doing abandoning his family at such a crucial moment. Is it his wife and kids? Is he severely depressed and no longer caring for anything? Is he a good person or a terrible person? This, and the fact it's all happening in such a precarious setting as Acapulco, it's beaches, it's seedy Motels and it's jails is what is most interesting about the movie.
What I didn't like was the fact that nothing is quite explained and nobody, not one character acts like a normal human being would ever act in similar circumstances.
At not time does Neil ever act like a human being with feelings. In fact with the exception of when he is told his sisters been murdered and the scene where he is signing over the business to his Niece and Nephew does he show any human emotion whatsoever. Is this because of his cancer? It mentions its in his frontal lobe so may be an explanation, but who knows because it's not made clear at all.
The fact he picks up and starts a relationship with a pretty shop girl by barely talking. Showing no emotion and pretty much silently woo'ing this girl onto the beach, into her heart and into his bed with no charisma, no communication and no desire to do anything but get drunk on the beach each day is a mystery. Is that the point? That she didn't actually care about him and was so poor even living with him in the state he was in was better than the little she had without him? Who knows, because it's not explained!
Then there's the ending. An ending without an ending. Neil walks off from the hospital, leaving the shop girl behind and it cuts to a single chair looking over an unrecognisable beach that we hadn't seen before from a room we hadn't seen before. Is this his room? Is this where he died alone? Who knows, because it's not explained!
Frustrating stuff really.
I like the fact that it eventually shows the grittiness and danger of South America to foreigners rather than painting it as a picture of paradise that a lot of movies portray. It quickly goes from showing the friendly staff and glamour of five star living in Acapulco to the seedier and much more deadly reality of existance there not only if your foreign but if your foreign and rich enough to attract the attention of criminals.
I liked the fact that your kept guessing what exactly Neil is doing abandoning his family at such a crucial moment. Is it his wife and kids? Is he severely depressed and no longer caring for anything? Is he a good person or a terrible person? This, and the fact it's all happening in such a precarious setting as Acapulco, it's beaches, it's seedy Motels and it's jails is what is most interesting about the movie.
What I didn't like was the fact that nothing is quite explained and nobody, not one character acts like a normal human being would ever act in similar circumstances.
At not time does Neil ever act like a human being with feelings. In fact with the exception of when he is told his sisters been murdered and the scene where he is signing over the business to his Niece and Nephew does he show any human emotion whatsoever. Is this because of his cancer? It mentions its in his frontal lobe so may be an explanation, but who knows because it's not made clear at all.
The fact he picks up and starts a relationship with a pretty shop girl by barely talking. Showing no emotion and pretty much silently woo'ing this girl onto the beach, into her heart and into his bed with no charisma, no communication and no desire to do anything but get drunk on the beach each day is a mystery. Is that the point? That she didn't actually care about him and was so poor even living with him in the state he was in was better than the little she had without him? Who knows, because it's not explained!
Then there's the ending. An ending without an ending. Neil walks off from the hospital, leaving the shop girl behind and it cuts to a single chair looking over an unrecognisable beach that we hadn't seen before from a room we hadn't seen before. Is this his room? Is this where he died alone? Who knows, because it's not explained!
Frustrating stuff really.