The Art of Losing

Not all good movies managed to get US distribution. This one, only played in Columbia and France, but it is still worth the time to explore.

Victor (Daniel Giménez Cacho) is a bum journalist who drinks too much and mourns the fact that his wife left him. He gets a deal from the Police Chief. In exchange for writing a speech, he can investigate a man who was impaled.

He teams up with Estupiñán (César Mora), who is trying to find out where his brother is. Their investigation is reminiscent of Chinatown, in that they are having great difficulty, as we the viewer are, in sorting out the good guys from the bad, as gangsters and politicians and civil servants all appear to be involved in a crooked land deal.

Along the way, he is joined by Quica (Martina García), a prostitute, and just about the hottest think out of South America since Selma Hayek. Their adventures take them through a nudist colony, and, before it is all over, crawling over many dead bodies.

The ending should be surprising, but it is to be expected in this climate of corruption.

Well worth viewing, and not just for Senorita Garcia.