Overwiew :As a Latin American nation nears collapse under a highly organized terrorist movement, idealistic policeman Agustin Rejas faces the greatest challenge of his career: to catch the mysterious guerilla leader Ezequiel. The brains behind the bloody revolution that threatens to bring the government and entire country down, Ezequiel is as elusive as Rejas' superiors are corrupt--an irony not lost on Rejas, who left a career as a lawyer to try to find "a more honorable way of practicing the law." The military's response to the brutal tactics of Ezequiel's followers is equally ferocious, creating an atmosphere of mass panic. In the midst of the chaos, Rejas finds respite in Yolanda, his daughter's soulfully beautiful ballet teacher. But she, who appears to be a shelter from the storm, may in actuality be the storm's eye. As Rejas draws nearer to the man who considers himself to be the "Fourth Flame of Communism," he and the dancer he loves will be forced to choose between love, country and self.
Starring :Javier Bardem, Juan Diego Botto, Laura Morante, Elvira Minguez, Alexandra Lencastre, Oliver Cotton, Luis Miguel Cintra, Javier Manrique, Abel Folk, Marie-Anne Verganza, Lucas Rodriguez, Xabier Elorriaga, Natalia Dicenta, Wolframio Benavides, Ramiro Jimenez, Montserrat Astudillo, Galo Urbina, Jairon Flores, Lam Chuen, Jose Antonio Izaguirre, Isabel Prinz, Ignacio Carreno, Benjamas Boonnak, Tito Garcia, Veronica Noboa, Luis Gaspar, Steve Emerson, Carlos Carrillo, Eusebio Lazaro, Paulina Aguilar, Esteban Salazar, German Nunez, Pachacutic Chugchilan, Santiago Carlos Vellido, Diego Naranjo, Montserrat Iglesias, Celina Casari, Maribel Rivera, Ignacio Duran, Frida Torresblanco, Ana Lozano, Lola Peno, Francisco Javier Paez, David Aguilar, Raquel Rocha, Alexis Rodrigues, Daniel Aguilar, Yousaf Bokhari, Montserrat Iglesias, Natalia Tarnawiecki, Carlos Thiebaut, Alexandra Lancastre, Marie-Anne Berganza
Producers :
Russell Smith, Lianne Halfon, Claudia Lewis, John Malkovich, Andres Vicente Gomez, Yousaf Bokhari, Andres Vincente Gomez
Writers :
Nicholas Shakespeare, Nicholas Shakespeare
Critic Reviews
Grade
Seattle Post-Intelligencer - William Arnold : ...it doesn't have anything new or hopeful to say about Latin America's endless cycle of revolution and repression... more...
C+
San Francisco Chronicle - Mick LaSalle : ...the uniformly measured pace of the scenes and an overly drawn-out narrative soon hamper the movie's effectiveness. more...
C+
Rolling Stone - Peter Travers : ...delicate and devastating. more...
B
ReelViews - James Berardinelli : ....many viewers will find that, for all its grace, The Dancer Upstairs moves too slowly. more...
C+
New York Times - Elvis Mitchell : ...somber, understated and chilling. more...
B
New York Post - Megan Lehmann : ...sags in a few too many places. more...
C+
Los Angeles Times - Manohla Dargis : ...pleasurably nerve-jangling thriller... more...
B
Film Journal International - Rex Roberts : ...eminently entertaining—if a film about murderous terrorists and corrupt bureaucrats can be said to amuse. more...
B-
E! Online - ...the film balances humor, tension and a heavy moral. : http://www.eonline.com/Reviews/Facts/Movies/Reviews/0,1052,88090,00.html more...
Cincinnati Enquirer - Margaret A. McGurk : Malkovich conducts the film with confidence... more...
B
Chicago Tribune - Michael Wilmington : ...a promising film rather than a fully realized one... more...
B-
Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert : ...elegantly, even languorously, photographed... more...
B
E! Online - ...one of the most compelling character studies to hit the screen in a long time. : http://www.eonline.com/Reviews/Facts/Movies/Reviews/0,1052,88375,00.html more...
Critic Reviews
