Although it aspires to be like Traffic, director Marco Kreuzpaintner's Trade—a sensationalized look at the subject of human sex slaves based on a New York Times Magazine article by Peter Landesman—lacks the former's complexity and subtlety, instead opting for buddy-movie clichés and clumsy suspense gambits, jazzed up with hyperkinetic camerawork. The story revolves around Adriana (Paulina Gaitan), a 13-year old Mexico City girl abducted and brought to the U.S. for sale to the highest Internet bidder. Determined to save his sister, 17-year-old Jorge (Cesar Ramos) ends up with an unlikely partner, a Texas policeman named Ray (Kevin Kline), and together the duo head for the East Coast in pursuit of the abductors. While the film features some genuinely harrowing moments dealing with the brutal treatment of the captives as they're smuggled into the U.S. and across the country by the operation's henchmen, much of Trade tracks the progress of the boy and the cop—a journey that is, frankly, banal (the two argue over what music to listen to on the car radio, etc.). The film is also hobbled by the script's constant reliance on dumb coincidence to move the plot along, as well as a final confrontation with the culprits that manages to be both nasty and mawkish. Trade deals with an important subject, but it feels more exploitative than illuminating. Not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by director Marco Kreuzpaintner and producer Rosilyn Heller, 16 deleted scenes (20 min.), the production featurettes “Chasing Shadows: Uncovering the Truth” (20 min.) and “Paper to Print” (8 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a disappointing film.] (F. Swietek)
Trade
Lionsgate, 120 min., R, DVD: $27.99, Jan. 29 Volume 23, Issue 1
Trade
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As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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