Cronicas

This isn't the first time a film has addressed the moral dilemma journalists face when confronted with the choice between principles and fame, but Cronicas is a reasonably absorbing entry in the genre, thanks to Sebastian Cordero's solid script and direction, as well as John Leguizamo's understated performance as Manolo Bonilla, a Geraldo Rivera-style reporter—for a Miami-based Spanish TV news program—covering an Ecuadorian serial killer who rapes, strangles, and buries young boys. When Bonilla helps rescue an itinerant Bible salesman nearly killed by a mob after his car strikes a youngster, the jailed man offers him information on the killer in exchange for the reporter's agreement to broadcast an interview that will create public sympathy and put pressure on the cops to release him. Although Bonilla knows he might be making a deal with the devil, the prospect of a ratings bonanza is enough to make him set aside his scruples. While the final act lets the tension slip, the film does pose the ultimate crisis a journalist can face—the choice between pursuing justice or success—without offering an easy solution or sugarcoating its implications. Recommended. (F. Swietek)