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Cronicas

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Cronicas (2005)

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Reviews Counted:21

Fresh:14

Rotten:7

Average Rating:6.3/10

Consensus: An unsettling and absorbing cautionary tale with John Leguizamo playing an unscrupulous TV reporter who uses the medium to further his own goals.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for violence, a scene of sexuality, and language.

Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

Theatrical Release:Jul 8, 2005 Limited

Box Office: $138,868

Synopsis: The hot and humid village of Babahoyo, Ecuador is besieged by an elusive serial killer. The police have no clues but this mystery has become an obsession for Miami-based tabloid television reporter... The hot and humid village of Babahoyo, Ecuador is besieged by an elusive serial killer. The police have no clues but this mystery has become an obsession for Miami-based tabloid television reporter Manolo Bonilla (John Leguizamo) who is convinced breaking this story will make him a star. Bonilla has traveled to the remote village with his producer, Marisa (Leonor Watling) and cameraman, Ivan (José Maria Yazpik) to cover the story for the tabloid TV show "One Hour With The Truth". Manolo has dubbed the killer as the "Monster of Babahoyo" on the show and is determined to uncover the killer's true identity. Tension in the town reaches a boiling point when Vinicio Cepeda (Damián Alcázar), a poor traveling salesman, accidentally runs over a child, and an angry mob led by the child's father, Don Lucho (Henry Layana), attacks him in the streets. Both Vinicio and Don Lucho are arrested. Manolo, who happens to be present during the incident, interviews both men inside a jail teeming with violence. Vinicio tells Manolo that he has information about the "Monster," but in exchange for it, he wants Manolo to do a story exposing his unjust arrest to sway public opinion. After checking out Vinicio's information, Manolo immediately suspects that Vinicio himself could be the killer, but chooses not to tell the corrupt local authorities; he'd rather use the information to make a great story for his show. How far will Bonilla go to get his story? Where is the line between a journalist revealing the truth and inventing it? How powerful is the media? Palm Pictures and Anhelo Productions present CRONICAS, written and directed by Sebastián Cordero (RATAS, RATONES, RATEROS) and produced by Alfonso Cuarón (HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN, GREAT EXPECTATIONS, Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN) and Jorge Vergara (Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN) and Guillermo del Toro (HELLBOY), Bertha Navarro and Isabel Dávalos. The executive producer is Frida Torresblanco. Cinematography by Enrique Chediak. Music by Antonio Pinto. --© Palm Pictures [More]

Starring: John Leguizamo, Leonor Watling, Alfred Molina, Damián Alcázar

Starring: John Leguizamo, Leonor Watling, Alfred Molina, Damián Alcázar

Director: Sebastian Cordero

Director: Sebastian Cordero
Screenwriter: Sebastian Cordero
Producer: Alfonso Cuaron, Jorge Vergara, Guillermo Del Toro
Composer: Antonio Pinto
Studio: Palm Pictures

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Release:

Nov 8, 2005

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Reviews for Cronicas

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Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
12/24/05
Arizona Republic
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A riveting exploration of good and evil where the line between the two is unclear.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
11/01/05
Kirk Honeycutt
Kirk Honeycutt
Hollywood Reporter
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Nothing in this would-be thriller grabs you by the throat, never mind reaches down to your guts.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
10/07/05
Janice Page
Janice Page
Boston Globe
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An ambitious social-commentary melodrama that works about half the time -- until it engages in the very behavior it sets out to condemn.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
09/08/05
Ann Hornaday
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
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[Cordero's] lens is focused on a larger ethics, on what makes human beings heroes and monsters.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
08/25/05
Achy Obejas
Achy Obejas
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Cronicas is the kind of tense, terrific suspenser that screams for a Hollywood remake. Only the remake won't be anywhere near as good, so check out the original.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
08/25/05
Steven Rea
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Cronicas is the kind of movie that grabs you while you're watching, even if later you wish it had grabbed a little harder.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
08/25/05
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
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Who could've guessed subtitles would make John Leguizamo a better actor?

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
08/07/05
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This gets television journalism right.

Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
08/01/05
Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
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Cronicas has a cracking good plot, a central moral issue and John Leguizamo speaking Spanish. What more does a film need?

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
07/22/05
G. Allen Johnson
G. Allen Johnson
San Francisco Chronicle
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Though Crónicas starts as a stark tragedy about widespread suffering, it morphs into a preachy, languorous treatise on manipulative media.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
07/22/05
Bruce Westbrook
Bruce Westbrook
Houston Chronicle
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The movie is worth seeing for Leguizamo's sinewy urgency, Alcázar's desperate cleverness as the killer, and the squalid, frantic atmosphere of Latin American hunger.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
07/13/05
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
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[A] sometimes savvy media melodrama.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
07/08/05
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
New York Times
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This film offers a probing look at corruption in TV journalism and focuses on a country rarely glimpsed in movies.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
07/08/05
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today
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Reasonably absorbing and a provocative if familiar commentary on media manipulation, with Leguizamo terrific in a serious, intense performance.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
07/08/05
Kevin Thomas
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The movie is devoid of subtext because every idea is expressed with bold punctuation.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
07/08/05
Lisa Rose
Lisa Rose
Newark Star-Ledger
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A scathing indictment of writer-director Sebastian Cordero's ability to put together a credible story.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
07/08/05
Kyle Smith
Kyle Smith
New York Post
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His Manolo is a hair's breadth from being booed off the screen, yet Leguizamo retains audience sympathy and shows us a flawed, conflicted man who will probably never get a decent night's sleep again after the decisions we see him make.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
07/08/05
Jami Bernard
Jami Bernard
New York Daily News
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A sobering, unsettling and devastating experience.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
07/07/05
Rex Reed
Rex Reed
New York Observer
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Writer-director Sebastian Cordero keeps the moral conundrums on low boil while allowing the ominous, sweltering atmosphere to seep beneath your skin.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
07/07/05
Gene Seymour
Gene Seymour
Newsday
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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Latest News for Cronicas

November 09, 2005: RT Interview: "Crónicas" Director Sebastián Cordero
It played in just over 100 theaters back in July, so you can be forgiven if you haven't heard a whole lot about "Crónicas" just yet. But the Ecuadorian crime thriller... More...

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