Turistas

For some reason in my neighborhood this is being listed in the newspaper as Turistas Go Home , but the title on the actual screen was Turistas . The movie concerns a group of tourists that are taking a vacation in Brazil when the bus they are on crashes. They are then set up by the locals to become organ donors against their will. The plot has a lot in common with Hostel though the tone of this movie is very different. Hostel was a horror film, but Turistas is actually much closer to a straight forward thriller though there are some horror/mad-doctor type elements thrown in. A few of the scenes are graphic in nature, and the film is rated R. I would not take a young teenage to go see this. If you have been following the news out of China about prisoners being used as unwilling transplant donors, the premise of the movie is not as far fetched as you might hope it would be.

The movie was directed by John Stockwell, who has more acting credits than directing credits, and written by newcomer Michael Ross. The director's handling of the movie does not feel confident, especially the action sequences. You are left with the feeling that much more could have been done with this basic material and plot. That the choice of editing, camera angle, and the sequence of events has all been done in a rather run-of –the-mill fashion. It has no real spark or suspense. The cinematography is adequate though not particularly exciting. The acting that is done by the principals is probably the strongest part of the film (and there are bikinis involved). In fact the film seems to have been cast with a lot of intelligence. You want to like this film. The acting helps to pull you into the film. The weakest part is probably the screenplay. The way the film is presented, we know what is coming before it actually arrives, since the film cuts back and forth from the tourists and the bad guys. The movie flows pretty well, but is not very suspenseful. There are parts of the plot that don't really make a lot of sense. For example there are portions of the movie that take place in an underwater passage, that are great to look at, but don't really push the plot along in any way and doesn't make sense within the basic story. It is like the underwater sequences belong in a different movie. If you are looking for a horror movie, this is probably not the way to go. If you are in the mood for a very average thriller (or bikinis), then you might want to check this out.

You can write James Harper at movielover77061@yahoo.com