- Photos:
-
- Running time:
- 119 minutes
- Rated:
- R
- Cast:
- Kevin Kline -
- Ray
- Cesar Ramos -
- Jorge
- Alicja Bachleda -
- Veronica
- Paulina Gaitan -
- Adriana
- Marco Pérez -
- Manuelo
(16 ratings)
Big question: Can this upsetting drama, based on a true story, reveal the intricate dynamics of human trafficking and the strength and courage it takes to make it out alive?
Skip it: Not nearly as tense as the drug trafficking flick "Maria Full of Grace," "Trade" sometimes feels a bit like "Hostel 3" and sacrifices its sense of reality to deliver a conventional race against time and lines like, "We know where your son lives!" There's plenty of sympathy to be found for innocents sold as "goods" to generate upwards of $20,000 for their captors, but overly symbolic shots of a lone bike in the street and a doll with its head torn off don't do an already garbled cautionary tale any favors.
Catch it: To see that it doesn't take real weapons to commit a crime, as Jorge and his pals use water guns to rob unsuspecting tourists. Um, is that supposed to make us like Jorge more?
Bottom line: The best thing about "Trade" is that it exists at all, so hopefully more attention will be drawn to important real-life issues. As for how the sex trade developed, how it functions and how people can be sick enough to traffic in human lives, well, the movie can't help you there.
Bonus: As it ends, the flick tells us that 50,000-100,000 people fall prey to human trafficking in the U.S. each year, with more than 1 million sold around the world. If only the rest of "Trade" had as much valuable information!
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