Some people are born with good luck, but others try to attain it however they can -- and at any cost -- in this offbeat psychological thriller from Spain. Samuel Berg (Max Von Sydow) is an elderly man who lives beneath a gambling casino on an island off the Spanish coast. In Berg's world, good fortune is a commodity that can be acquired from others, and while would-be gambler Federico (Eusebio Poncela) has a genuine talent for taking good luck from those who have it, Berg's gift is even
stronger, and after a long day of absorbing positive vibrations from winning gamblers, Berg steals the day's "take" from him, leaving Federico to plan his revenge. Federico becomes aware of Tomas (Leonardo Sbaraglia), a man who recently survived a plane crash, and is convinced he has even more luck than Berg can overcome; the two become partners, and Federico enters Tomas in an underground tournament designed to determine who Lady Luck smiles upon most sweetly. After Federico and Tomas win a handsome home from Alejandro (Antonio Dechent), a former bullfighter, the pair seems poised to go up against Berg and claim his luck as their own, but Sara (Monica Lopez), a police investigator, is convinced Federico and Tomas are up to no good and begins exploring their bizarre secret world. Intacto received its American premiere at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Fresnadillo has something serious to say about the ways in which extravagant chance can distort our perspective and throw us off the path of good sense.
I admired Intacto more than I liked it, for its ingenious construction and the way it keeps a certain chilly distance between its story and the dangers of popular entertainment.
Its use of the thriller form to examine the labyrinthine ways in which people's lives cross and change, buffeted by events seemingly out of their control, is intriguing, provocative stuff.
Though at times the rules of this luck-stealing underworld aren't exactly clear, and the plot becomes a bit mired in its own cleverness, Intacto is an intriguing notion.
Like a sprinter competing in his first distance race: It bursts forth with tremendous energy, sustains itself for quite a while, loses steam near the end but finishes ahead of most of the pack.
Lions Gate Home Entertainment offers a surprisingly meaty collection of features on this DVD edition of Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's pretentious and vacuous thriller.
The interesting premise to this Spanish thriller is that some people are luckier than others, and those with the gift of luck play in a series of secret tournaments where they face off against each other, sometimes for fatal stakes. Max von Sydow, playing a Holocaust survivor, is the luckiest man alive---but can a man
who miraculously survived an airplane crash unseat him? The idea of the underground luck circuit, and the strange, ritualistic games they play to determine who among them is the luckiest, is the most interesting thing about it; the rest of the movie is moody, humorless, and distant, and doesn't generate as much suspense as you might hope.
September 18, 2009
Greg S
Super Reviewer
Interesting premise, in which luck is an actual gift that some people possess, who then compete against each other in a series of challenges to determine the luckiest person on earth. At the same time, a wanted criminal is being chased by a cop who possesses this same gift. The games of luck are fun to watch, and
there is always the looming question of which of the characters is actually the luckiest. Not a lot of substance beyond the basic premise.
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