Cert 15
132 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong language, violence, threat and brief sexualised nudity
Blimey, Mexico looks a tough place to live.
Whether in American movies or home grown ones such as Miss Bala and now Days Of Grace, the back streets are depicted as particularly mean.
And, as is common with many developing countries, the police service apparently offers no respite from the lawlessness.
Corruption within the force is one of the key themes of Everardo Valerio Gout's debut feature as is the gangland violence which is tearing at the heart of the nation.
It has three parallel storylines which span the duration of three separate football world cups in 2002, 2006 and 2010.
At the heart of them are an honest cop (Tenoch Huerta) who risks his life tracking down the bad guys and, at the same time faces corruption close by.
He is a reluctant member of a police revenge squad which backs up its zero policy on crime through instant violent justice.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the track is Doroteo (Kristyan Ferrer), whom we see at first being told off for selling dope as a young boy and then being cajoled into a kidnapping.
At the heart of Days Of Grace are some meaty scenes.
Those surrounding the abduction victims and street shoot-outs are hugely powerful.
And the psychological impact of the violence on the two principal characters is explored with a great deal of thought.
However, it is a bit muddled because its jumps from world cup to world cup are a bit bemusing even for someone with intimate knowledge of football.
And this isn't helped by the fact that the movie is literally very dark (in some of the scenes it is mighty tricky to work out what is going on and who is who).
My suspicion is that Gout is trying too hard to impress.
I have read a review which suggests he is attempting to use every film-making technique he has learned and I have to agree.
Nevertheless, he came close to excellence with Days Of Grace. If he doesn't try quite so hard next time, his follow-up movie should be very much worth watching.
Laughs: none
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: very briefly (and gratuitously)
Overall rating: 6.5/10
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