The Yellow Fountain

Titled after a spring in Chinese mythology where the souls of the dead flock to quench their thirst, The Yellow Fountain centers on Lola (Silvia Abascal), a bold and wily young woman bent on revenging the murder of her parents. Her only clue? A name scribbled on the back of a business card from a Chinese restaurant in Madrid. Quick as you can say General Tso's Chicken, Lola ends up in mortal danger herself, having inadvertently wandered into the murderous Madrid lair of the Chinese Triads. But, as chance would have it, Lola meets major milquetoast Sergio (Eduardo Noriega), who, as chance would have it again, has as his hobby maintaining dossiers on all the Chinese mobsters in Spain. Soon the dynamic duo, having joined disparate forces, have the killers of Lola's parents in their avenging sights. Despite a ridiculous spate of coincidences, this political thriller/actioner/romance manages to hold one's interest, mainly for the commanding screen presence of Ms. Abascal. As a spirited heroine with an itchy trigger finger, Abascal plays well against the head-in-the-sand love interest Noriega, and the two mend their opposite ways just enough to meet in the romantic middle. A couple more drafts of the screenplay and the filmmakers could have had a winning little thriller, but as it somewhat unsteadily stands, this is only an optional purchase. (S. C. Sickles)