Trade of Innocents (2012)

What a waste of my time!!!

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

I really want to like this movie and rate higher as an honest living person for its contents alone, but as a movie freak it was easy to say the screenplay was a letdown. Not based on the actual incident, but the film depicts how and where these things take place. In fact inspired by the director and producers of this film's own experience during a visit to the Cambodia. This was a movie about human trafficking, in the line of movies like 'Trade' and 'Eden'.An American couple who recently lost their child on a mission in a Southeast Asian city to fight the crime. What they encounter is the crux of the story. Don't anticipate breathtaking stunts and wide human traffic network like the movie 'Taken'. As I expected in this low budget movie, everything was too short including the cast with a simple story. But there is a powerful message, that's the most important and everything else is just a formality for a movie to have a basic thing. Watch it or not its up to you, because in one way worth give a try and in another, it is not.6/10

I find this film seems itself to be abusive to children; I was sickened and shocked. There are also two other alarming questions to ask about this film's making. I'm a grandparent with 7 children and several grandchildren; after being into this film a little more than 30-40 minutes or so I could no longer finish watching it as some of you out there who are parents are likely to soon understand why. BUT BUT, I did watch ALL the special features.Why hasn't anyone mentioned that there were actual REAL small too young children acting as subjects of child sexual abuse who were actually talking to actors who were acting like real child sex abusers. In other words Simulated Child Abuse (even if only mildly) much like simulated sex in soft porn movies. Those younger child actors were WAY WAY too young to be even learning AT-ALL anything about such subjects as child sexual abuse/prostitution! They need to have STAYED as innocents about anymore than the minimum knowledge about sexuality any other normal average younger child that age knows. So - - for me - - this WAS a milder form but still child abuse to have used/hijacked these children this way; and there was no thorough explanations or clarifications in the special features to relax viewers that they blue-screened the children separate from the male abuser actor etc or some other shielding or at least ANY further explanation than what was insufficiently offered to assure viewer that these children were sufficiently protected. The film's Special Feature's ONLY explanation was that the mothers were on the set at all times; hey guess what; what about those "other" mothers who really did send a child into prostitution they were fully aware also. How many of you parents out there would allow your child to be an actor in such scenes who, it's totally normal, will then want to go and see the movie they "starred" in? Sick Sick and TOO sick!! Is it too politically incorrect to accuse this to be some kind of cultural defect, like many accuse Muslims for how they treat women; what other world culture does this kind of thing to this level of severity; do Muslims allow this kind of thing for their little innocent children? "We bought the script immediately;" the doctor states, whose idea started the project. Bought? Say what? Again - - for me - - the appearances imply they simply hijacked this issue simply in order to make hero-celebrities of themselves and be able to travel around and make speeches. Reminds me of Jerry Lewis's abuse of Muscular Dystrophy children.If it was filmed in Thailand which is historically, going back hundreds of years, WAY more famous for child prostitution; then Cambodia, then why wasn't the Thai governments historically weak efforts to combat this problem mentioned; or that this country allows actual jet sex-charters to land on their runways as if they were like those gamblers-only charters going to Las Vegas.If this film was truly to expose then why didn't it really expose the so so much more there IS to expose? Again, the appearances seem to imply these people just hijacked one of the saddest sickest most hidden issues on earth just to make hero celebrities of themselves since the film too over emphasized Cambodia while too under-emphasizing all the other well-knowings by those of us who have for decades really fought this holocaust against children. Were they way more concerned about getting their film made then offending those who really need to be way more than just offended; IE in prison.Please boycott, as in don't buy any goods made in Thailand; period!!!

At the film website, three awards were won at the Breckenridge Festival of Film, Best of the Fest Drama, Best Director, 2nd Place People's Choice and two other awards. This shows that this film is recognized as exposing an ugly truth that some would rather not hear about.I did not like the facts presented but enjoyed this film because it dramatically portrayed the problem of porn prostitution of young girls in certain countries like Cambodia. It makes us all aware of the problem that most do not know.The film presents the point of view of the parents of these horrendously treated young girls and the tragic exploitation of them for sex. I was not aware of this before. I also discovered that yes, it occurs right here in Canada and I am sure other places in North America.This movie points out that situation and makes those who care, aware. There are always some who do not care about anyone but themselves.The film keeps you occupied and drawn compassionately into the lives of the characters as if you were there as a reluctant observer wanting to help but trapped by being on the wrong side of the screen.There is something you can do.

This could have been so much better if they had found some actors that could actually "ACT" Dermot Mulroney and Mira Sorvino could have been replaced by two planks of wood and no one would have noticed the difference.The Asian villain over acted his heart out! He never gave up, like a cornered rat he put up a fight.The subject matter was never going to be an easy one to deal with, however, it was over simplified and put together like something from a Christian NGO workshop training video.One really annoying thing about it other than the two main actors was the jumping between subtitles when the actors were "speaking Khmer" or whatever it was they were speaking and then the same actors talking in English for some reason. They should have just left it one way or the other.Certainly not the worst movie around, but pretty poor mainly due to the pathetic script and bad acting.