Rating: 
Summary: Superb
Review: This was the best movie of 2000 and it is a farce that "Crouching Tiger" took the Oscar for best foreign film. This film is a tightly woven and moving portrait of how three seemingly seperate lives are connected by a terrible car accident. While often violent and brutal, especially in regards to the dog fighting scenes, this movie is beautifully filmed and the director does not waste a frame. It is easily one of my favorite films of the last several years and I recommend it to those who enjoy intense, thought-provoking films. Doesn't get any better than this. Gael Garcia (also seen in the recent film "Y tu mama tambien") is fabulous and there are several other impressive supporting performances.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: I've watched this splendid film more times than I care to admit! It's such a great movie that I don't want to ruin it with plot points or a synopsis, so I'll just say this -- the dog fights are horrible and jarring, but it's worth it. The story of loss, love and (of course) dogs is gritty and doesn't sugarcoat life, but ultimately carries an uplifting message. (It's just hard to find amidst all the bloody dogs.)
And one more thing -- Gael Garcia Bernal is the sexiest actor since, well, nobody's ever been sexy enough to compare him with. Watch for him to be the next big thing, not only in Mexico but in the U.S. I see him winning an Oscar by 30 (or at least deserving one -- but we all know how the Academy tends to treat racial minorities and foreign actors).
Rating: 
Summary: A Brutal, long, drawn out waste of time!
Review: This movie was gory, vulgar and offensive on every single level imaginable. It was uncomfortable and unsettling to watch. The plus side is that the characters are developed well. You find yourself really caring what will happen to them & this is the catch that keeps you from turning it off completely. But the ending was beyond dumb and made me disappointed that they didn't just give the money to poor people in Mexico instead of making this brutal, long junk! You are going to wish you could get 153 minutes of your life back after waisting your time viewing this dross.
Rating:
Summary: Yet another overrated and overrwrought BAD movie
Review: I should have known better. A friend who recommended this movie also loved "Magnolia" which is probably the worst movie I have ever seen. "A symphony of human suffering" is what he called that one. Well, for those of us who love symphonies, this movie is, like Magnolia, in the realm of Mahler and Bruckner in length. Unfortunately, the whole time is spent in ugliness. There is not a moment of sublimity or beauty. OK, I will cut the film a break for depicting the desperate and disparate circumstances of people in Mexico. Its best quality is in showing how the impoverished situation of a young man leads to tragedy for a beautiful young model, then to a kind of redemption for a hardened criminal. But this thing really needed an editor! There is way too much violence, to begin with. Dog lovers are likely to walk out or turn it off in the first fifteen minutes. At close to 150 minutes, it gets tiresome, most especially in the ludicrously illogical story of the model. To begin with, how likely is it that the floorboard of her luxury apartment is going to collapse? Then, when a gaping hole appears, are she and her lover really going to leave that as is, when her little (terrier) dog is running around the place? Anyone who has a terrier knows that they are explorers and hunters. And when the little guy finally explores the subflooring, is it really believable that his owner is not going to go ballistic until he reappears? Gimme a break. I am a dog lover (and terrier owner), and this movie tries to depict love for dogs only in the final segment, but the second segment is totally inconsistent with that. It would have been easy to just show the dog, now in unfamiliar surroundings, just getting lost. Maybe even suggest that the model is incapable of loving another human. We don't even get that. Important to any film is whether we care about the characters. Here, it is difficult to say. None of the characters are ideal, and that is one kind of realism. But it is difficult to understand the motivations of the desperate young men who get into dog-fighting; aren't there a lot of other things they could be doing? Drug-running, gun-running, pimping? And we never get to see much in the way of the protagonist's affection toward the fighting dog who in a way is the center of the story. Not even a single reservation about entering the dog in one fight after another. Yet we are supposed to believe that he has profound feelings for his brother's wife and offers her tenderness whereas her husband is an insensitive brute. Graphic, gratuitous violence among fighting dogs is depicted. I had to listen on headphones because my little guy was so upset to hear the noise of dogs fighting and suffering. There was way too much of this. And that kind of sums up the movie--way too much of everything, including the same old story about how nasty characters, sordid circumstances, greed, lust, selfishness, ruthlessness, and, in the end, regrets and bitterness are everywhere, and that people don't work hard enough in their relationships. Well, I don't need to be reminded of that. Do yourself a favor and skip it.
Rating:
Summary: stunning! this film realy portrays its name well.
Review: After seeing Amores Perros win best international film at the Baftas, I had to see the film. I ordered it over the net and when it arrived, I managed to watch it 3 times in one day. Magnificent - Congratulations Mexico on producing a truely amazing film. The film layout could not be any better, with a catestrophic car crash at the start, blending into action, arthouse and romance. In my eyes this is the best film i've ever seen, i'm not lying- AMORES PERROS-a must see!!
Rating:
Summary: What a delight
Review: I discovered this film by accident. It played on my tv like a nightmare getting sideswiped by some small glimmer of hope. And that's pretty much how it plays once you get to the end. The director carefully lays down loss and shows how three different characters deal with their loss - the loss of love/innocence for the first character; a loss of love and the ability to walk for a model; and finally, a loss of "family" from the final character. As pointed out, all these characters dynamic changes occur through the use of dogs almost as foils for the other characters to discover something they didn't know about themselves. The first character, a seemingly innocent and caring person - is driven to violence and greed as he enters the underground world of dogfighting. A model starts losing her love, her ability to walk, and finally her leg as she tries to find her dog. Finally, a homeless hitman's symbolic family of dogs is lost to one dog - making him realize the importance of his true family and to learn a new value of life. Any movie that successfully conveys such and uplifting message from a rather down trodden tale deserves some kudos - but that's not the start of what makes this film so remarkable. The realism of the film is astounding. The dogfights and the life shattering car wreck are quite easily some of the most shocking pieces caught on film - as they look so real. The brilliance of the realism also lies in the attention to detail - the careful painting of Mexican life. The director's portrait is often dark and tainted - not rose colored. It is a true depiction of culture that is rarely seen on film. The first segment of the film especially moved me in its portrayal of culture and ideals as it weaves its way around the streets of Mexico. Finally, Iñárritu's use of music also shows a certain flare for making a cinematic marvel. Tracks by such bands as Moenia and Control Machete are awesome in setting the tone for this rather dark, cinematic marvel. The music is varying - pretty much the tone of the film. At one point, I found myself in tears, and at others in shock of the horror. At some moments, I was even able to laugh a bit. In the end, however, the whole film left me in awe. Forget it being an amazing foreign film - this is just an amazing film which has layers of meaning about life while at the same time displays an amazing example of filmaking.
Rating:
Summary: Great Mexican Export!
Review: The title roughly translates to "Love's a ...". This movie shows what love can do to us and what it can make us do. The three interwoven stories of the movie revolve around forbidden love, lost love and love going sour. In each story, dogs and their relationship with humans play in important role. It is a very graphic movie with plenty of violence. I was glad I saw the video so I could view the behind the scenes featurette showing how the dog fight scenes were made as they looked very real. Everything in the movie was real to the point of being painful, but it wasn't gratuitous.
The cinematography was edgy with sharp, saturated colors and lots of great shots of gritty scenes, some so real you were glad you were only watching a movie. You could sense the stench.
The acting was excellent. I will be looking for more movies with Gael Garcia Bernal and Emilio Echevarria.
This is not a movie for everyone, but if you want to see something real that asks hard questions and has hard answers it's worth the time.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Movies in Any Language
Review: I am so amazed that more people haven't seen this movie. Especially here in Los Angeles. I have two copies of the DVD and am constantly loaning one out to turn people on to this awesome movie. This is one of those movies that you can definately buy and watch over and over. Getting more out of it each time. Awesome visuals and story line and soundtrack. Unless you understand Spanish make sure you get the one with English subtitles. I learned allot of good swear words this way too ;-)
Rating:
Summary: Tres historias en una pelicula
Review: Sin duda esta pelicula es una de las mejores ejemplos de la nueva cinema saliendo de Mexico. Es una historia en tres partes. Lo que sigue esta capturado en las vidas de tres grupos de gente que no se conocen pero estan unidos por un trajico evento. Cuando chocan dos automoviles las vidas de varios comienzan a complicar el asunto entre ellos. Los perros tienen mucho que decir con lo sigue, son unos metaforas por la vida entre amor y sus consequencias. Lo que sigue en desarollo es complicado pero sinsillo. Para mi el que roba la pelicula es Emilio Echevarria que es "El Chivo", un senor que vive por sus perros despues de dejar la vida actual. Hasta que un conocido policia lo busca para hacer un trabajito. Es inolvidable como hace su cambio de hombre de la calle, a asesino de nuevo y ultimamente de heroe. Si nunca has visto esta pelicula te lo recomendo como yo tengo cuatro veces viendolo y siempre gano algo nuevo cuando lo veo. Cuando baja el precio compralo para tu collecion, te va gustar auque es violente, como la vida en Mexico hoy en dia.
Rating:
Summary: The ultimate Spanish movie.
Review: Take Snatch. Take Memento. Take Pulp Fiction. Take Reservoir Dogs. Now put Spanish dialogue to it, and you have Amores Perros. This movie is a masterpiece. There are three different storylines going on in this movie. But all three are somehow connected to a car wreck. And we also find that they are connected to each other in other ways. This movie is incredible. You find yourself becoming very emotionaly attatched to the characters. So much, you care for them deeply. Now, I hate movies where animals are main characters. But in this movie, the dogs are some of the best actors. The R-rating is for nudity, sexual content, drug use, strong language, quite a bit of violence and some very intense dog-fighting scenes. See this movie.[It is in Spanish] and it will blow you away.
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