Joaquin is a physically and
emotionally crippled computer expert, mourning his dead family and
living alone in a house that he is unable to afford. To stave off
foreclosure, he rents out a room to a hot, single mom. Berta (Clara
Lago) and her daughter Betty upset Joaquin's quiet life, an invasion
he initially resents but eventually accepts, as he and his aged dog
come to like the newcomers.
Meanwhile, something is going on
downstairs, in the adjoining building. Joaquin hears strange
conversations through his basement wall, sometimes mentioning him. He
discovers a criminal gang burrowing a tunnel under his house to the
bank on the other side. Using his electronics skills, the
wheelchair-bound Joaquin learns the gang's plan and hatches his own
scheme to get the money for himself.
Argentinean writer/director Rodrigo
Grande has created a tense, claustrophobic thriller that is full of
plot holes. The character's actions make little sense, and Clara
Lago is too much a poor-man's version of a dark, Spanish movie star
to be really compelling. Fortunately, the two male leads, Leonardo
Sbaraglia as Joaquin and Pablo Echarri as the gang-leader, carry the
movie. Federico Luppi also makes a sinisterly convincing appearance
as a shady policeman. Grande does a good job putting you in
Joaquin's place as he overcomes his paraplegia to pull off his
scheme, and the scenes in the tunnel are cool. Unfortunately, the
plot falls victim to lazy writing, and no amount of good acting or
cinematography can overcome that.
2.5 stars out of 5
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