Inhale

This movie is part of a series of movies (Babel, Man on fire comes to mind) which portray the very difficult Mexican social and economic situation next to the American border and how delicate the balance between the two countries is. While North Americans in general have a complete ignorance of the culture and origins of Mexico, they still see them as a source of trouble for their fatherland. As I speak, more restrictive immigration laws are being enforced for Mexicans and South Americans in some states in the U.S. A part of the North American society believes drugs, mobs and social violence is directly related to Mexicans. Again, the turmoil in Mexico is in no small part caused by the necessities North Americans have to "sustain" their honest, well intentioned way of life.

This necessity is what moves a prosecutor (played convincingly by Dermot Mulroney) to go deep into cruel and dangerous Mexican territory (mainly Juarez) in search of an illegal lung donor and an illegal transplant in order to save his daughter's life. During the journey, he'll encounter a dark life of crime and violence unknown to many Americans except when they have to resort to Mexicans for the dirty jobs they won't do themselves or for their convenience. The movie builds tension quite appropriately as we see a desperate father willing to risk his life in search of a mysterious doctor who is in charge of such operations. In his way, he'll see children gangs, prostitution, corrupt policemen and all the colors of human misery when poverty reigns. But he will also discover kindness, decency and the innocence of children (even those carrying automatic guns). In the eyes of the character everyone is corrupt and dishonest and this concept (although it may offend Mexicans or Latin Americans) is exactly what the script aims to do. It tries to show us how ignorant rich societies are of the way poor ones live and that not everyone who lives humbly is a criminal as the main character will find out. He'll also find out that the most despicable characters in the movie are not even Mexicans. (Surprise, surprise they are fellow North Americans). This is a journey of awakening for someone who has to go down to hell because he needs to.

In any case, the characters are believable. The wife (played by Diane Kruger) is a strong and determining character. Chief of police Aguilar (played by an impeccable Jordi Moya) is everything you'd expect from a degenerated police officer and Sam Shepard is also convincing. The music also deserves special mentioning although Newton Howard is basically copying Santaolalla's concept as heard in Brokeback Mountain or Babel. The in crescendo and the very emotional ending add to a movie which is decent and leaves a very important message mostly Mexicans and South Americans as I understand. Rich societies play an important part in the state of poverty (and its consequences) which is undermining poor societies and they have the moral power to revert this situation. That is, if they really wanted to.

Somewhat in the same genre' as the film "Traffic" which takes the viewer into the extremely dark world of human trafficking of kidnapped children sold to pedophile clients, "Inhale" takes the viewer into the dark world of "no questions asked" human organ trafficking, sold into the medical black market.

There's no fooling around, fluff or frills in this film.

Right from the start, the viewer is plunged into a contorted realm of existence, faced with horrific choices that have to be made under the worst of imaginable circumstances.

Desperate parents, hoping against hope for a donor lung transplant, while their daughter is inching ever closer to death, faced with a seemingly illogical and unfair organ recipient listing system, realize that they have to resort to other "outside the box" options, immediately.

In the real world, this is a scenario that is all too familiar for countless thousands of parents, who, regardless of expense or effort needed, will travel to various clinics outside the USA, to save their children from otherwise certain death. To cater to this need, there are many parts of the world where, for the right price, the desperately needed organ(s) in question magically appear on demand to the highest bidder.

All things considered, this film does deliver a bone chilling dose of drama under duress, and then some.

The only part that I felt seemed to be a bit weak was the ending, which was tailored more to suit a politically correct message, rather than deliver a realistic rendering of what would actually happen in such circumstances.

Having said that, however, the casting and acting in this piece fit into this story like a hand to a glove. I had no trouble in suspending disbelief while viewing this film, as I personally have traveled around a bit and have seen first hand what this sort of scenario looks like.

I give the director a lot of credit for trying to deliver this view into a world mostly hidden from the general public, via this dramatic platform.

As previously suggested, this film is not for the squeamish or faint of heart.

When I started watching this movie I had my doubts,due to lack of reviews and even rating...so I expected just another "below average" movie just to kill my time.

But from the very beginning I got the feeling it wouldn't be an indifferent film!This is a movie about ethics in its actual sense.Not just about religious or political debates. It should stimulate every user who likes to think.

It has action,drama and even politics,all given to you in a way that not only won't bore you,but will actually make you want it to last a little bit longer...At least that's what happened in my case and to all 4 persons I watched it with!

Acting was good as well.If this movie had a bigger budget and well-known cast would definitely have been a movie everyone would talk about!

If you like movies with both interesting plot and good direction,take my word and watch it.It won't let you down!

Fast paced movie with a good plot.The movie talks about the illegal part of heart transplantation and how they do it. the casts fit the role exactly and the movie doesn't lose its objective or story anywhere. The emotional part in the movie is touching. the movie enters the story in the very first scene itself. The scenes are properly edited and there is no confusion in any of the scenes. The movie catches its speed once the hero enters the Mexico. From there on the furious story of illegal heart transplantation begins. The hero too goes there to find a heart for his daughter who ails from serious asthma problems.She needs an immediate transplantation. But the hero faces a great piece of challenge, Ethics. In the last scene , he faces his own moral values against saving his daughter. Watch it. Its worth watching.Its actually good!

The movie is generally good. I don't know why some reviewers have focused on the incredulity of the story. I think this movie makes a good rental. It is a bit of a hard viewing, not just because of some violence or sex but because of the overall subject matter itself. I thought that the director kept the focus on the story.

When I checked for the reviews I was surprised that it did not have very many reviews. I think the producers and director should be given some positive feedback because this movie did appear to deliver as a movie.

There are some intensely annoying loose ends. So ignore the first ten minutes. If it was not for this I would have given this movie 7 or even 8. Since the story was not cleaned up in the beginning it gets only 6 out of 10.