The Virgin of Juarez (2006)

Purely Joyful Movie!

How sad is this?

Am I Missing Something?

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Beautifully shot, fabulous soundtrack, lovely editing. The director Kevin Dobson's work always has a wonderful sense of movement and feeling, He has a great cinematic sense of pace. Well cast. Some of the reviews I've read are outrageous!!! Sounds more like a bitter and twisted crew member, with a small brain. Grips aren't necessarily known for their brain power, more for brawn and pretty blouses. Took me to Mexico and back, somewhere I've always wanted to go, and showed the culture beautifully. It's a small budget independent film, and well worth a look. Some really fabulous moments. I've seen a thousand worse huge budget movies. The Jlo and Gregory Nava movie about exactly the same subject had a massive budget and was boring and slow.

I was disappointed to see some really good actors attach their names and talents to this class of work (if we can call it that). Minnie Driver is one of my favorite actresses and after seeing her in this film, I was truly let down. She doesn't have the personality of a rough edged reporter that this type of film would require and on top of it all, the story line wasn't developed well. Esai Morales would have played a better part of an OG gang member as opposed to a priest and his younger gangster brother (Noel Gugliemi) butchers the Spanish language in the film. He didn't even use a good gang slang. Who is this guy kidding. Bad choice of the Mexican detective just trying to brave the political winds. Vargas himself belongs in gangster comedies. I'm of the firm opinion, "Find what you do well and work at doing it better than anyone else." I also thought the part played by Angus Macfadyen was a real let down. Come on man.....you have done some great parts in the past (Braveheart, Equilibrium, Saw III). Don't do this to yourself again. Leave the Hispanic roles to the Hispanic actors. Overall, the story was weak and the actors were miscast terribly with the exception of Ana Claudia Talancon. Hopefully she'll be able to live this one down and move on to some better roles.

I also don't think the real truth about what is happening in Juarez was told and the part of the girl going to l.a. was ridiculous. would not recommend, they should make a real movie about it, but then again they would run the risk of getting killed. My mother lives in El Paso and she doesn't like to go to Juarez because just last week 2 people got killed at a grocery store. It's getting out of hand. I think the drug lords are the ones scaring everyone from Juarez so they can take over the border city. As I was watching the movie I thought that one of those girls could of been me, just because I used to party over in Jurez from Thursday through Sunday. Thank god nothing happened, that was about 13 years ago. I really hope they fix everything down there, it's a wonderful place to visit and party, I mean was.

This movie is a tragedy, because it (Kevin Dobson) had an opportunity to tell a very important story about the horrible murders in Juarez but instead he turned it into a stupid shoot em up farce that has nothing to do with the subject matter. The cast is just stumbling along with this painful script, I know the director is in control and everyone has to work, but my God, did they read this garbage first??? And, poor Angus Macfadyen is so terribly miscast. Why the hell would you cast a Scotsman in the part of a Mexican when all the other Hispanic parts are being played by Hispanics? His inability to pull off a believable accent (Not to mention that bad tan job they did on him) made him look foolish. He's a better actor than this film shows.Go watch something else.