“You could save yourself a ton of trouble just by killing everybody now” is the exact thought I had sixty seconds into this film. Professional assassin Victor (William Levy) meets with a scumlord, Javier (Roberto Sosa), who wants another scumlord dead, but we all know that no matter what with this particular transaction, eventually Victor and Javier are going to have their own showdown. If that point weren’t obvious from their meet-uncute, the foreshadow was drilled home when Victor puts a bullet in the head of a Javier henchman without breaking expression or conversation. Hey, what did you expect? He’s an assassin.
In the course of the initial negotiation, compound hostage Sarai (Alicia Sanz) smuggles herself out by breaking into Victor’s car. It’s hard to say whether Victor is surprised or not by the intrusion or the gun pointed at his head; he wears exactly one expression throughout the film. I’m thinking this is both part choice and part of his acting limitations. With his current blend of rugged handsome and vague ethnicity, William Levy comes across as the sedate lovechild of Brad Pitt and Benicio del Toro.
En Brazos de un Asesino plays like it has seen a lot of lone wolf films already and wants to add itself to the pantheon. Victor is presented as the poker playing anti-hero: quiet, economic of thought and movement, but deadly on demand. He’s presented as calm and collected. Under every circumstance, he’s always in control. He’s a completely asexual hero – oh, he’s sexual – but not until the moment is exactly right. And he can turn it on and off like a spigot, as is so true of high-testosterone individuals. This clichéd character has no real place in reality or fiction, which is why this caricature is so vulnerable to parody; it is actually a nod to William Levy’s acting that I want to describe the character and not immediately make fun of it. In case you didn’t notice, En Brazos is a love letter to lone wolves, mysterious, dangerous, noble, and sexy all in one package. I suppose the thesis is that’s why they have to be alone.
Ah, but this particular moment was about Sarai, the escapee who finds herself attracted to this mysterious caricature. The film needs to turn her from somebody Victor doesn’t take seriously to someone he does, which is a tall order, and becomes a magnet for the film’s problems. There are several scenes in the film where Sarai holds a gun Victor’s head and he reacts like he’s just heard a weather report. Later on, the film presents us with, perhaps, the most erotic strip search in movie history and again Victor reacts as if someone has told him the weather in Barcelona is currently mild with a slight chance of rain. And, again, I’m talking about the character who doesn’t react instead of the one that does.
The whole point was turning Sarai into Victor so they can double-team the Italian Seth Meyers (Ettore D’Alessandro) later in the film. The pacing is wrong as this happens either far-too-early or far-too-late depending on perspective, and we the audience are constantly left with the feeling of, “why didn’t they just John Wick the entire place? These guys all suck; there’s no point in using finesse when you’re just gonna end up killing them anyway, right?”
I certainly enjoyed parts of En Brazos de un Asesino. I think we all enjoy the asexual anti-hero trope, and the film does offer blood and steam when it gets going. I just can’t help feeling there’s a certain phoniness to this world and the players who encompass it. A guy who stares down a gun like he’s ordering from Denny’s menu either has a death wish or is slightly impaired and I don’t think either is the case here. I have no doubt this film will have it’s fans among those who see themselves as the lone wolf or the mujer in love with lobo solo, but for the rest of us, it’s just another film with guns and bad guys and some sex.
I wouldn’t call an assassin an “alpha male”
Although you gotta respect one not in jail
Following his career path
Is a newfangled math
He don’t say much, but the corpses leave a trail
Rated R, 106 Minutes
Director: Matías Moltrasio
Writer: Jeff Goldberg, William Levy
Genre: How to create an assassin
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Assassin wannabes
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People who get emotionally invested in bad guys
