User reviews

I saw this movie yesterday after coming from the university.

The movie is a direct call to the military government of that time. And could pass the censorship of "Tato" "Why did you kill him". Someone was questioned. "It was a River Plate fan". One of the most incredible line listened. Direct hit to the government. Millions of people were killed or were executed in those ages ('76-'83). Incredible performance: Julio de Grazia. He found a lot of money. And a great thriller started. Realism, a film noir. All was taken care by Adolfo Aristarain. Perfect.

A taut (if somewhat run-of-the-mill) Argentine film noir. Positives: good script and cinematography, excellent acting from all concerned especially the protagonist, Julio De Grazia. Negatives: an obtrusive and frequently strident score (many scenes would benefit from an absence of music).

This is the first film by Argentine director Adolfo Aristarain, who went on to direct some of the best Argentine movies of the last three decades, among them "Time for Revenge" (1981), "A Place in the World" (1992), "Common Ground" (2002) and "Roma" (2004). In the light of these works "The Lion's Share" must be considered as a minor work, but it is worth watching.

The Lion's Share was the first movie directed by Adolfo Aristarain. With a marked noire style, this was the first of many movies that helped Argentinian cinema move forward, adopting the style and themes that were being addressed in international cinema.

The plot follows Bruno, an ordinary man that comes across a big sum of money from a failed heist. Then, the protagonist embarks on a race against the clock to launder the money and disappear before the thieves catch up to him.

Other than the exploration of themes common of the genre, such as the price of dignity, the script for this film is rather simple. The final result is a correct but insubstantial movie that accomplishes all the requirements of the noire police storyline without much else to contribute.

The cast is made up of some of some of the most coveted Argentinian actors of the moment, such as Julio De Grazia, Ulises Dumont and Luisina Brando. As a result, most of the performances are correct. Some exceptions are a very inexpert Julio Chavez, that ends up acting like a robot in his attempt at playing a remorseless killer, and Luisina Brando, who unfortunately was doled out the role of the dumb character, with a forgettable and ridiculous monologue in a scene with Julio De Grazia.

In conclusion, The Lion's Share is a very correct first movie of a director, who got much better as his career advanced. I recommend it for whoever is interested in contemporary Argentinean cinema's history, but I'm afraid that the ones looking for a noire police story won't find much of interest.

This is the translation of a review first published in FilmAffinity, on the 8 of October of 2020. Written by Germán Dawidowski, translated with the help of Paula Marrodan.