Reclusive gym manager Lou falls hard for Jackie, an ambitious bodybuilder headed through town to Vegas in pursuit of her dream. But their love ignites violence, pulling them deep into the we... Read allReclusive gym manager Lou falls hard for Jackie, an ambitious bodybuilder headed through town to Vegas in pursuit of her dream. But their love ignites violence, pulling them deep into the web of Lou's criminal family.Reclusive gym manager Lou falls hard for Jackie, an ambitious bodybuilder headed through town to Vegas in pursuit of her dream. But their love ignites violence, pulling them deep into the web of Lou's criminal family.
- Awards
- 3 wins & 8 nominations
Jamie Javier Guerrero
- Henchman
- (as Jamie Javier Guerrero Jr.)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- GoofsThe close-up of the $100 bill reveals a design introduced in 1996. This detail contradicts the film's setting in the 1980s.
- Alternate versionsThe film is cut for content in Vietnam where it runs for 98 minutes.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Project: Episode dated 22 March 2024 (2024)
- Soundtracks1847 - Earth
Written by Harald Großkopf
Performed by Harald Großkopf
Courtesy of (p) 1980/2014 Bureau B
Published by Copyright Control
Featured review
Plenty of Love and Bleeding, far less Lies
I never heard of Rose Glass before, but having seen this, I now am interested to see her debut feature "Saint Maud."
Not to say this is a great film, but it was entertaining for significant portions. It packs a lot into an hour and three quarters; much of it is homages to previous films in the noir and action and suspense genres, and it occasionally veers unexpectedly into fantasy. But much of it was also unnecessary. The amount of focus on women's and particularly Katy O'Brian's bodies and the sex scenes felt surprisingly exploitative for a film written and directed by a woman. As a typical man, I'm not complaining; but as a film buff, we get it, Kristen and Katy fell head over heels in love at first sight, now let's move the story along. There are themes that are so overemphasized in terms of screen time that dark comedy is another genre that would be properly applied to this film, in much the way it applies to things like "Blue Velvet," "Bound" and even "Twin Peaks."
On to the characters and cast. Oscar-nominee Ed Harris is the main villain of the piece, as an owner of both legit and illegal business ventures; and the way he is written, he comes off as more weird than menacing, and cares about his two estranged daughters more than they imply and we would expect for essentially a gangster, but does so in a rather matter-of-fact, low-on-emotion way. This is not one of Harris' better performances. He's there for his star power, but pretty much goes through the motions. Kristen Stewart is fine as one of his daughters and one of the two chief protagonists. Jena Malone is kind of wasted as his other daughter because for the majority of her scenes, her lovely face is obscured by a broken-face appliance. Anna Baryshnikov is annoyingly dull in both overall physical presence and characterization as a ditsy local who has a longtime crush on Stewart, and gets jealous when a new arrival captures Stewart's attention, and I would have preferred to see and hear a lot less of her. Dave Franco is disturbingly creepy as Malone's malignant husband in a way that Harris should have reached but did not.
Then there is Katy O'Brian. As the passing-through-town competitive bodybuilder, she impresses with her muscles, and shines with her vigorous characterization of an adventurer who has a sufficiently addictive personality that she should be less adventurous, for her own good and that of those around her. I've seen her in a few of her minor TV roles but she failed to make an impression that stuck in my mind with any of those, so as strange as it feels to note this for an actor who is already in her mid-thirties, this film felt like a revelation of a new star.
Settings and cinematography were atmospheric but nothing to write home about. Dialog was barely adequate. Plot was just mostly-bad characters behaving rashly, and because the pacing was hectic, it felt like there was an overabundance of their stupid actions. Even the pussycat managed to not be attractive, so I guess the director's vision of grittiness for the environment and the characters worked as she hoped. This movie could easily have run another half hour for how much happened in it, so my stars are for O'Brian, Stewart, and the director's sense to cut it shorter.
Not to say this is a great film, but it was entertaining for significant portions. It packs a lot into an hour and three quarters; much of it is homages to previous films in the noir and action and suspense genres, and it occasionally veers unexpectedly into fantasy. But much of it was also unnecessary. The amount of focus on women's and particularly Katy O'Brian's bodies and the sex scenes felt surprisingly exploitative for a film written and directed by a woman. As a typical man, I'm not complaining; but as a film buff, we get it, Kristen and Katy fell head over heels in love at first sight, now let's move the story along. There are themes that are so overemphasized in terms of screen time that dark comedy is another genre that would be properly applied to this film, in much the way it applies to things like "Blue Velvet," "Bound" and even "Twin Peaks."
On to the characters and cast. Oscar-nominee Ed Harris is the main villain of the piece, as an owner of both legit and illegal business ventures; and the way he is written, he comes off as more weird than menacing, and cares about his two estranged daughters more than they imply and we would expect for essentially a gangster, but does so in a rather matter-of-fact, low-on-emotion way. This is not one of Harris' better performances. He's there for his star power, but pretty much goes through the motions. Kristen Stewart is fine as one of his daughters and one of the two chief protagonists. Jena Malone is kind of wasted as his other daughter because for the majority of her scenes, her lovely face is obscured by a broken-face appliance. Anna Baryshnikov is annoyingly dull in both overall physical presence and characterization as a ditsy local who has a longtime crush on Stewart, and gets jealous when a new arrival captures Stewart's attention, and I would have preferred to see and hear a lot less of her. Dave Franco is disturbingly creepy as Malone's malignant husband in a way that Harris should have reached but did not.
Then there is Katy O'Brian. As the passing-through-town competitive bodybuilder, she impresses with her muscles, and shines with her vigorous characterization of an adventurer who has a sufficiently addictive personality that she should be less adventurous, for her own good and that of those around her. I've seen her in a few of her minor TV roles but she failed to make an impression that stuck in my mind with any of those, so as strange as it feels to note this for an actor who is already in her mid-thirties, this film felt like a revelation of a new star.
Settings and cinematography were atmospheric but nothing to write home about. Dialog was barely adequate. Plot was just mostly-bad characters behaving rashly, and because the pacing was hectic, it felt like there was an overabundance of their stupid actions. Even the pussycat managed to not be attractive, so I guess the director's vision of grittiness for the environment and the characters worked as she hoped. This movie could easily have run another half hour for how much happened in it, so my stars are for O'Brian, Stewart, and the director's sense to cut it shorter.
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Amor, Mentiras Y Sangre
- Filming locations
- Crowne Plaza Hotel - 1901 University Boulevard NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA(Bodybuilding Competition scenes)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $8,335,797
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $150,765
- Mar 10, 2024
- Gross worldwide
- $12,776,878
- Runtime1 hour 44 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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