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Secuestro Express
Miramax Films


8.9

based on 17 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 26 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: R for strong violence, drug use, sexuality and language

Starring Mía Maestro, Rubén Blades, Carlos Julio Molina, Pedro Perez, Carlos Madera, and Jean Paul Leroux

Secuestro Express -- the business of quick kidnapping perpetrated by two or three organized thugs who chose their victims among the upper-class in Latin America. This film tells the frightening story of one young couple's ordeal as they careen through the underbelly of Caracas, Venezuela in the hands of three thugs who've made them their latest payday. (Miramax Films)

GENRE(S):	Action \| Drama \| Foreign \| Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	Jonathan Jakubowicz
DIRECTED BY:	Jonathan Jakubowicz
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: January 3, 2006 Theatrical: August 5, 2005
RUNNING TIME:	90 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	Spanish (with English subtitles)
LANGUAGE(S):	Venezuela

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

The New York Times Laura Kern

The constant threat of violence and rape is difficult to endure, but the unpredictable Secuestro Express is more than just a dizzying thrill ride laced with small doses of pitch-black comic relief.

The Hollywood Reporter Sura Wood

Jakubowicz's direction is assured except in the film's final moments, when he makes a clumsy attempt at sociopolitical philosophy that is delivered by an omniscient narrator. It's an indulgence that threatens to undercut the ferocity that precedes it.

New York Post V.A. Musetto

There's nary a dull moment in the semi-autobiographical Secuestro Express (secuestro means kidnap), as Jakubowicz pleases the eyes with closeups, sped-up scenes, hand-held camerawork and other stylized tricks.

TV Guide Ken Fox

This is pulp with smarts and a social conscience.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

Zips along at an urgent pace, both tantalizing and repulsing as it goes.

Empire Anna Smith

Illuminating as to the reality of being a victim of crime in a dangerous society but not exactly absorbing entertainment.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Jakubowicz has aptly said of his film that "the beauty of Secuestro Express is how localized it is. The more local it becomes, the more universal it becomes." The truth of his remark resonates throughout this fast and furious film.

Variety Robert Koehler

Assuming the victims' point of view in the type of kidnapping that's now epidemic in Latin America, Jonathan Jakubowicz's Kidnap Express depicts a nocturnal Caracas with tense energy.

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

Slick, violent thriller that could seriously dampen tourism to Venezuela.

Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder

Exploits the epidemic of kidnapping in Venezuela without offering solutions or insight--only sophomoric platitudes. Jakubowicz's talents as a filmmaker are many, but crafting an articulate, well-examined social theory isn't among them.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

There's no denying the movie's visceral impact: It's too bad, though, that Jakubowicz isn't aiming for anything other than sensation.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Jakubowicz successfully portrays a country corrupted beyond repair by financial inequality. But the sadism that drives the story is so gleefully nasty, it overshadows any rational arguments he's trying to make.

Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson

It's a skillfully made film, but not especially fun to watch, and the apparent thesis that poverty justifies such acts doesn't quite wash.

Village Voice Nona Willis-Aronowitz

A focus on a timely social problem paired with an archetypal class-war tale would be a winning combination for Secuestro Express, were it not for the movie's strangely exploitative nature.

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

Too often, though, Jakubowicz falls back on his relentlessly pirouetting DV camera, attention-deficient editing and ear-splitting sound effects as a substitute for real tension, or a more piercing inquiry into the bubbling tension between South America's haves and its poverty-stricken have-nots.

San Francisco Chronicle Walter Addiego

Has more in common with a horror movie than with a genuine political work.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

Writer-director Jonathan Jakubowicz does his best Quentin Tarantino impersonation, loading the film with percussively profane dialogue, smug adolescent nihilism, rampant drug use, pop-culture references, homophobic invective, and empty stylistic excess.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.9 (out of 10) based on 26 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Gisela M. gave it a10:
I'm Venezuelan and when I saw the movie it made me remember a personal episode that I lived in my country a couple years ago. Because I know that things like that are happening in Venezuela is good to tell the world the truth about it. With young people like Jakubowicz working hard in improving Venezuelan movies and trying to reach a high quality, the only thing that I can say sincerely is : congratulations for your effort .

Karlin H. gave it a7:
I can't say that it was the best movie that I've ever saw, but neither that it was the worst. Being from Venezuela and living outside, it made me realized that hey!, no body is safe anywhere. Artistically, it was ok, there's still room for improvement. As a social issue, its a sad reality that the whole world is living, so embrace for what is to come...

Juan A. gave it a5:
Nice direction. Awful script, don't like it at all. So many mistakes in the script. But it's nice to watch... only once. It's just another standard film.

maiba r. gave it a10:
Aunque tienes algunos detallitos, de las pelìculas venezolanas que he visto es la mas real hasta en el vocabulario usado por los actores.

Pedro gave it a10:
It's a terrific movie.

Andres M. gave it a10:
Me parece que para ser una pelicula venezolana es muy buena ya que trata sobre la realidad que vive nuestro pais.

Rafael A. gave it a10:
I am so proud to be Venezuelan, Secuestro Express is the best venezuelan movie that i´ve ever seen... Congratulations Jonathan, keep working.

Secuestro Express Miramax Films

Secuestro Express
Miramax Films