To Rob a Thief (2007)

Ladron que roba a ladron is a great movie, and I recommend it to Spanish-speakers and non-Spanish speakers alike. The captions seem to be excellent (I know some Spanish but am far, far, from fluent). The movie is a great deal of fun, and the actors do a wonderful job. Especially enjoyed Miguel Varoni, Saul Lisazo, and Ivonne Montero. Fernando Colunga was great eye candy. Other reviewers have summarized the plot well. It did remind me of Ocean's Eleven, but on a smaller scale and with perhaps even more humor. I understand that some scenes were cut in order to shorten the running time, and I sort of regret that. You will be glad you made the effort to see this film.

That translation sounds very familiar, Yes, dear readers, we have seen this type film many times over the years.The Oceans 11-13 series, comes to mind first.The film was made by a Mexican-American film company & has a large cast of actors famous on Mexican Television. The cast & crew live in Los Angeles & have their roots either here or in other Latin-American countries. The setting is Los Angeles, most of which was filmed in a beautiful house & grounds in one of the more upscale areas.The entire cast is excellent,all aspects of the movie are first rate.The general idea of this tale is we have a villain, a snake-oil salesmen who sells phony health remedies to gullible TV listeners. Enter 2 righteous dudes who form a gang to take this sleaze-ball downIt is a fun ride all the way, with a few surprises.I was laughing out loud all the way through, I think you all will as well. This movie has none of the phoniness of the Oceans 11-13 series,Minimum of violence,next to no sexual stuff & no songs to disrupt the comedy.its pure fun. It is in Spanish with excellent closed captioning.next to no objectionable language as well.Ratings ***1/2 (out of 4) 94 points (out of 100) IMDb 9 (out of 10)

I don't believe that I need to recap the plot of this movie since other commentators have done so quite clearly. However I would like to expand on three aspects of the film: the casting, comparable movies, and the technical credits.I'm an Anglo and came across the movie by accident on Amazon.com. As such I was totally unfamiliar with the cast of this movie, most of whom appear to have extensive credits in Hispanic television series. When an actor delivers a good performance you can credit the actor. When all the actors fit their roles you have to credit the casting. Saul Lisazo, as the putative villain Moctesuma Valdez, was impressive. Both of the gang leaders, Miquel Varoni as Emilio Lopez and Fernando Colunga as Alejandro Toledo, were in character. While the latter was billed first, I assume he's better known for his television work, I would say the former was more of a standout in this film. Ruben Garfias was expressive as car jockey Rafa and Ivonne Montero was very dynamic as his motor-head daughter Rafaela. Gabriel Soto brought some charm to the usually thankless role of caper muscle man. Julie Gonzalo was attractive in the role of the nanny Gloria but Sonya Smith had little to do as Mrs. Valdez (apparently she was more actively involved in a sub-plot which was cut from the movies to reduce run time). Oscar Torres as Miguelito, a would be actor, and Jon Molerio as a security guard provide standout comedy relief. Only the computer "nerd" role of Julio Miranda was surprisingly under written given that it was played by JoJo Henrickson, the author of the screen play. It is relatively seldom that all major roles in a film are well cast. It is a high compliment when I say it makes me want to go out and look at the other work of these performers.Commentators have compared this film to Ocean's Eleven (1960/2001) or the The Sting (1973) in terms of where it was derived from and the style of the caper. I don't know who made the first caper film, with people coming together to stage a heist, but I know it definitively precedes Ocean's Eleven (1960). Without even pausing I can think of Jules Dassin's Rafifi (1955), Stanley Kubrick's The Killing (1956) or John Huston's The Asphalt Jungle (1950). In terms of style I think we must remember that this film was apparently made on a budget of US$900,000 over twenty days. Its simply not going to have the high-technology caper of a big budget Ocean's Eleven (2001). The complexity of the caper is more like that of 1960's television series Mission Impossible or Man From U.N.C.L.E. However the director and writer of this film wisely choose to concentrate on character and social commentary rather than complexity of the caper. This fits better within both the budget and the concept of invisible immigrants staging a caper. Part of the emotional satisfaction with the ending is the social commentary embedded within it.Technical credits are normally taken for granted but deserve comment in this case. The camera work is particularly impressive, with use of continuous takes as the camera moves amongst the participants in the scene. This style binds the characters together and creates both realism and a sense of activity. I was also impressed with some of the framing of the shots, with the main characters bookending the background events. I don't think I've ever commented on subtitles in a movie. Inevitably one senses that the subtitles you are reading are a poor reflection of what's said in the original language. In this case the English subtitles, I presume by the screen writer JoJo Henrickson, are fluid and fully convey the emotions on the screen. The catchy soundtrack also adds to the professionalism of the credits.

I loved this movie! The focus of this heist movie was on the characters' resourcefulness and cleverness, not on special effects. The clever dialogue, plot twists and the wonderful humor reminded me of the great classic "The Sting." I much preferred this film to the big-budget Ocean 11-13 series, which is too self-important, and I found the characters far more charming and easy to root for. While I am not Latina, I am very familiar with the works of the three stars, Varoni, Colunga and Lisazo, and they were the reason I went to see this film. They did not disappoint me. The entire ensemble is great and very believable, although Oscar Torre and Miguel Varoni steal a few scenes. Fernando Colunga always stands out b/c he's so darn HOT! He's also very good here. On the other hand, my friend's heart palpitated every time S. Lisazo and G. Toro came on screen. Ivonne Montero is very funny in a role very different than many of her telenovela ones. All around, definitely worth seeing!