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September 21, 2007 > Arts & Entertainment > Charming thieves of Ladron entertain

Charming thieves of Ladron entertain

By Nicolas Morrison | For the Thresher

Ladron que Roba a Ladron presents a light-hearted confection of a heist flick. Remniscent of Ocean’s 11, the premise of Ladron que Roba a Ladron is simply two con men banding together to rob an even bigger thief — an infomercial king — right under his nose. The subtitled Spanish film’s combination of tongue-in-cheek humor, breakneck pace and carefree attitude shine through any language barrier.

An ensemble cast famous from various novelas injects Ladron with stars who command the screen oozing charm. Emilio Lopez (Miguel Varoni of “Pedro el escamoso”) is an Argentinian con man with a sense of thief’s honor who comes to Los Angeles for one last job with his old partner Alejandro Toledo, played by the charismatic Fernando Colunga (“Alborada”). Moctesuma “Mocte” Valdez (Saul Lisazo of “Gitanas”) controls the airwaves as a wildly successful infomercial baron who founded his empire by taking advantage of poor and uneducated Latino immigrants.

Mocte sells hope, as he puts it. Promising anything and everything, absurdity reigns over his wares such as “Pelocine” for hair rejuvenation (“To make even an 80-year-old man have the head of hair when he was 20!”), “Larga-T” since “size does matter” and “Agua de Dios,” with a real doctor’s testimony that it will cure cancer in a way that those without insurance can afford. Familiar to any insomniac watching Spanish television, the movie’s opening titles mock and stylize with aplomb these otherwise silly advertisements.

Based out of a church, Emilio and Alejandro find out that their team to take down Mocte has either retired or been deported. Alejandro himself now is reduced to selling pirated Hollywood movies — Emilio notes that “Crash” is misspelled as “Crach” when looking at Alejandro’s wares.

But why use professionals to pose as immigrants to get into sensitive locations if one can use actual immigrants themselves?

And so the team is assembled: the father-and-tomboy-daughter pair of driver (The Barrio Murders’s Ruben Garfias) and mechanic (Ivonne Montero of “!Anita, no te rajes!”), the overly masculine strongman (Gabriel Soto of “Amigas y rivales”) and the mumbling techie played by JoJo Henrickson (Stump the Band), who also wrote the script. Particularly amusing is the inept Cuban expatriate amateur actor (Stage Kiss’ Oscar Torres) who continues to freeze at the worst times.

With the twist of using clueless civilians unaccustomed to such a large job, the film creates many scenes for the team to fumble around in building a lively dynamic between what would otherwise be simple character stereotypes.

Ladron contributes simplicity and a fun time to the heist, rather than Mission Impossible-esque break-ins and special effects. There are no lasers, only a few personal bodyguards. And the entry requires only two key cards. That is, two key cards, a love triangle, a broken air conditioner, a party with the Mayor of Los Angeles, port-a-potties, the seven deadly sins and, of course, coordinating a union strike of immigrant workers. Simple day-to-day things.

Wonderfully refreshing from the depravity of this summer’s hits, Ladron is striking in its wholesomeness. At the end of the day it is honor, loyalty to friends and family and the power of love that stand true instead of drugs, violence or greed. A majority of the charm Miguel Varoni brings to the screen comes not from his strong jawline and manly stubble but from his earnestness in protecting his fellow Latinos. The philosophizing thief, who espouses a kind of Robin Hood outlook, comes as a contrast to the whimsical events of Ladron and is heavy-handed at times, but events continue to barrel forward and keep the viewer on board this roller-coaster caper.

Ladron breaks no new ground, but certainly takes the viewer on a wild ride with charm and integrity.

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