Inhale (2010)

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

INHALE (dir. Baltasar Kormákur) A New Mexico States Attorney journeys to Mexico to obtain an illegal lung transplant for his ten year old daughter.The film manages a halfhearted glimpse into the illicit and ethically challenging world of Organ Transplantation, yet the storyline degenerates into a mediocre Action/Adventure tale.The film might have been more powerful if the filmmakers had concentrated on the moral and ethical ramifications of organ donation, and downplayed the lurid 'cops and robbers' aspect of the film.The violent scenes 'south of the border' added nothing to the overall moral impact of the film, and seemed to cloud the true issue. It seems that the real intent was to focus attention on this little known, yet alarmingly sinister aspect of Organ Donation. Most people only think of this issue is when they are asked by their local DMV if they want to check a box when applying for a license renewal.

Paul and Diane Stanton (Dermot Mulroney and Diane Kruger) are living a comfortable life in Santa Fe, New Mexico but conflicted with their daughter's stage four lung disease. After months of waiting on the national waiting list so their daughter could get a replacement, Paul discovers a friend, gubernatorial candidate James Harrison (Sam Shepard) has had an illegal heart transplant. Harrison agrees to tell Paul all he knows, which sends Paul to Tijuana to find a mysterious Dr. Navarro, the man behind the curtain of illegal organ transplants. Organ transplants are just as dangerous and just as illegal as human trafficking, and can cause as much and more heartache. "Inhale" takes a regular family man and places him in war-torn Tijuana to try to save the life if his little girl using any means necessary, which makes you question his moral authority. Good films do just that, they make you think. Great films, however, leave you thinking. Dermot Mulroney doesn't usually play the leading character but gives a tour-de-force performance here. He is beaten and bruised on his journey but does not give up and held my attention throughout. The beautiful Diane Kruger is equally as good but underused as his frantic wife, tending to be a sidelines character who never gets her due. Sam Shepard successfully plays a slick politician, and the entire Hispanic cast, including the equally slick Jordi Molla, hold their own. The script has a few problems, mostly with explanation. Shepard's character's relationship to Mulroney's character is never quite explained. It appears they work together and are close, then suggests the opposite when Shepard is running for Governor. Kruger is underused, which takes away from much of "Inhale"'s potential. She is a fantastic actress but seeing her cry isn't enough. She's too good to be so one - dimensional, which suggests some of the film never made it off the cutting room floor. James Newton Howard's soundtrack blends seamlessly into the background, becoming a character in itself as it differentiates New Mexico and Mexico. The ending is perhaps the biggest fault of the film. The choices Paul makes throughout takes him to a surgical room where he is faced with an incredibly difficult choice. When we discover which choice he made, we are made to think if it was right. If we never knew, that would have left us thinking long after the screen went black. "Inhale" takes the organ trafficking debate head on, which is admirable. Yet the film isn't as good as the message it gets across.

In this new thriller from Icelandic director Baltasar Kormakur (The Sea), Santa Fe District Attorney Paul Chaney (Dermot Mulroney) and his wife Diane (Diane Kruger) has a daughter, Chloe, who is on a long list for a lung transplant due to a rare degenerative condition. As Chloe's health worsens, Paul becomes desperate for a donor and forgoes the usual channels to seek out a mysterious surgeon named Dr. Novarro in Juarez, Mexico, who may be able to help her. Things get complex when he finds that Dr. Novarro may have connections to a criminal underworld.The film starts off with a text on the screen about the increasing needs in the world for organ donors, similar in style of a documentary or a fact-based drama. We are soon introduced to Chloe, Paul and Diane's daughter with severe lung problems, establishing the motivations of the parents. While I first expected something more akin to a medical drama, majority of the film is actually closer to a thriller. It is a decent, if conventional, thriller.Majority of the film follows Paul (Dermot Mulroney) who goes off by himself to Mexico, searching for a "Dr. Novarro", a surgeon who apparently has access in finding a donor for his daughter. Paul, a white, upper-class gentleman with graying hair, sorely sticks out in this new and unfriendly environment. He is soon mugged by thugs and taken advantage of by street kids for snooping around in the wrong area. Many of the thugs are typically two-dimensional. Paul eventually makes some headway by enlisting help from one of the kids. I found it surprising that a District Attorney couldn't hire a language-friendly guide or bodyguards to get by in this type of environment, but I suppose that would make it less "edge-of-your-seat." AdvertisementDermor Mulroney is competent as Paul, who is constantly in the worst of places. Majority of the people he bumps into are unfriendly. Strange, extreme situations follow this character around--actually, it's more like he throws himself into these situations. Beyond that, his character is a fairly typical white collar character. Diane Kruger has a supporting role as Diane, Paul's wife. After Inglourious Basterds, Diane Kruger has become even more recognizable. She is underused here, and is away from most of the action, looking concerned in much of the film. Rosanna Arquette also has a small role as Dr. Rubin, which isn't developed. Most of the street characters in Mexico aren't developed beyond the obvious.The cinematography is well done. The film makes good use of its unfriendly, harsh environment with saturated colors and sharp contrasts, emphasizing the gritty, urban areas of Juarez, Mexico. The streets are filled with sharp greens, reds, and yellows. The thugs, the poor, and the children in the streets complete the whole mood. They are often more part of the environment than individuals. Many of them aren't too friendly. I'm curious how Mexicans would view this film. The hand-held camera shots, edits, and angles are all effectively done--the whole stylistic direction has a certain Tony Scott feel.As for the story, it's nothing too new, especially when it focuses on the events in Mexico. It works like a simple detective story--one clue leads to another. There are a good amount of violence and sexually explicit situations, many of which seem to exist purely for shock value than to further the theme or the plot. While the film regains its focus down the line, there are many things going on that seem sensational--shady politicians, conspiracies, and exploitation of the poor. Some parts were implausible, if well-intended, which took me away from the film. Overall, I did appreciate the theme of this film, which was driven home fairly effectively near the end. Still, I don't think the film's message was helped by all the clutter--clichés, shocks, and stylistic chases. You can also follow my movie reviews on twitter.com/d_art

How far will you go to save your child's life? That is the question that Paul Stanton, a public defender (Dermot Mulroney), is faced with when his daughter, Chloe, is in dire need of a new set of lungs and it looks like she will die before she can get a transplant in America. Diane Kruger plays Diane Stanton, Paul's Wife and Chloe's mother who spends most of the movie looking worried for her daughter.The movie explores the dangerous, poverty stricken part of Mexico near the US border and the underworld of organ transplants bought on the black market. Paul Stanton finds out that a man he knows, James Harrison (Sam Shepard) had once needed a new heart, had mere months to live & despite never having received a transplant according to his medical records, was alive years later and now off the transplant list. After a confrontation, Harrison admits that he received a new heart from Mexico and was contacted by the mysterious Dr. Navaro, drove to the border, paid $100,000 & was drugged & awoke with a new heart. He doesn't know how to contact the Dr. which sets Stanton on his journey to Mexico to find the illusive Dr Navaro so he can secure an illegal transplant for his daughter, whose condition is worsening and is close to lung failure.The movie follows Stanton through Mexico as he is put in different dangerous situations in his pursuit to save his child. What is he willing to do to save her? Will he risk his own life? Risk the lives of others? Kill someone to make it happen?These are all questions answered through the movie as the audience watches Stanton do what he feels he needs to do in Mexico to get lungs for his daughter, Chloe.In the end, the lead character is faced with a true question about morality and what he is really willing to do to save her - He went to Mexico with the idea that he would do ANYTHING but when confronted with something so horrific, will he really make the right decision & really, what IS the right decision?The ending may seem unrealistic to some & realistic to others but no one really knows what decision he or she would make if put in a similar situation until he or she is actually in that situation.I give this movie a 7/10 - the acting is fantastic and the story is engaging and suspenseful enough to hold ones attention.