Foreign Pick: Graceland (2012)
While Liam Neeson possesses a specific set of skills in Taken, I can’t say the same about the protagonist of Graceland.
Marlon Villar is little more than a chauffeur with a sick wife and a rebellious child. He’s remained loyal to corrupt politician Manuel Chango, and is usually an accomplice to his indiscretions, despite secretly objecting to them due to his high moral character. Besides, he finds himself in desperate need of cash, given that he pays for his wife’s treatment.
As he’s driving Chango’s and his own daughter back from school, an ambush is laid upon them by kidnappers. This incident merely triggers a series of events that Marlon will have to endure if he plans on saving his wife and reuniting with his daughter.
I brought up the lackluster Liam Neeson movie because I believe he had it easy — at least when compared to Marlon. Given his background as a CIA agent, he was able to retrieve his daughter almost effortlessly. On the other hand, Marlon’s got nothing backing him. Not only is he alone in his struggle, he also finds that he’s neither particularly clever nor strong, thus he’s got no attributes that could help him get his daughter back without leaving unscathed.
Even though I admit unfamiliarity with cinema from the Philippines, Graceland invites me to further explore it. It baffles me that thrillers like this often fade into obscurity — if everyone’s favorite actor isn’t in it, one has to read subtitles throughout the whole thing, and, on top of it all, it can’t be found on Wikipedia, then people just don’t bother to give it a shot.
Graceland is but one of several hidden gems on Netflix —they’re just sitting there, waiting for people to give them a chance. Nevertheless, if you’re in the mood to see familiar faces in a similar movie (albeit a multi-million dollar production) riddled with dreadful acting and minimal character development, then I strongly recommend Stolen, also on Netflix. The choice is yours.