Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Jorge Luke's Reward.

Mobster Lorenzo (Antonio Tostado) (looking like Neo from The Matrix) has just exchanged some contraband for big cash to some Arabs whom all strangely look like characters out of The Matrix (as well). Suddenly, his partner Jacko (Gonzalo Sanchez) shoots up the Arabs & take the money & contraband back to their crazy ass boss Salgado (Jorge Luke). When Salgado finds out his wife has been screwing around with one of his men, he puts a hit out on her, her lover, his wife’s small daughter Regina (Natasha Dupeyrón) and even Lorenzo since Salgado feels no loyalty from him. Jacko then kills Salgado’s wife & her lover and sends out a gunmen to kill Regina and Lorenzo, but fails miserably. Salgado then offers a huge reward for the murders of Lorenzo and little Regina. Lorenzo hatches up a plan to escape to LA with Regina and so he seeks help from a woman called “La Guera” (Patty Alvarez) whom he’s worked with before. Along the way, Lorenzo steals a car from a young woman named Paola (Martha Acuña) who ends up helping him & Regina with their escape.


Recompensa (aka "Reward") caught me by surprise since I didn’t expect much from it. The story was actually pretty interesting and the characters/cast were rather interesting as well. Jorge Luke plays the quirky mob boss Salgado so well that it’s almost believable. Antonio Tostado was also really good as Lorenzo and you root for him throughout the movie since he’s such a good guy despite technically being a criminal. Natasha Dupeyron was about 9 years old when Recompensa was made and this was her first movie ever and she played her role quite well. 

Now what made Recompensa intriguing for me is just the overall tone & the way the characters act & even look. When the movie opens up with the Arabs meeting with Lorenzo, it is so, so bizarre since the Arabs truly resemble Matrix characters. You know what I mean right? All dark clothing & corny sunglasses, etc. Futuristic looking shit for sure. When Lorenzo & Regina are on the run, they change their clothes to be more discreet and its all beanies & caps and baggy clothing. Its so hilariously 2000’s. The movie also gets funny at times and it’s completely random but hilarious. For example, there’s these 2 cops who are truly some bizarre dudes and one always mistakenly calls the other “chief.. I mean comandante”. Jorge Luke naturally brings humor to the movie as well with the things he says and does. It always comes natural to him in movies and I love it. 

Now Recompensa is a crime movie & all, so of course there’s plenty of action. Nothing mind-blowing keep in mind, but there’s enough guns firing & fist fighting to keep the movie entertaining. The fight scene near the end is rather corny, but nevertheless quite fun. The supermarket parking lot scene is hilariously fun as well. Let's just say little Regina really liked being pushed in the shopping cart all while mobsters are running after her and Lorenzo.


Recompensa is a decent little crime movie worth a watch. It’s a fun watch and as I said before, it’s oddly funny at times and the characters are quite likable. Those Matrix-looking Arabs were something else though. Maybe they’re from another world and everyone just assumed they were Arabs. I don’t know. What I do know for sure is Neo chose the red pill. I think. Honestly though, I never watched The Matrix in full.