An average movie

I had no idea what to expect from this movie but since I had seen all the other movies directed by Chris Weitz and since it sounded intriguing, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though Roger Ebert was apparently quite enthusiastic  (he gave give this movie a score of 3.5 stars), in my opinion, it was a decent watch but not much more that, I'm afraid. I mean, right from the moment Carlos naively left his car keys on the ground while climbing some palm tree, it became really obvious where the whole thing was going to. Indeed, even though it wasn't a real remake of 'Ladri di biciclette', it was still heavily inspired by this timeless classic and while the makers could have obviously taken some much worse inspiration, I think it would have been more interesting if they went for something new instead of recycling an old classic. For example, I really liked the struggle lived by this teenager who didn't want to end up in gang but the kid was still conscious enough that life didn't have much else to offer for him which was rather heartbreaking. Furthermore, I don't blame Demián Bichir who gave here a really strong performance. To conclude, even though it didn't really convince me, it was still not bad at all and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

6/10