THE AURA — *** — Ricardo Darin, Alejandro Awada, Dolores Fonzi; in Spanish, with English subtitles; not rated, probable R (violence, profanity, vulgarity).
At times during "The Aura," it seems as if even the filmmaker had no idea where it was going.
This character-heavy crime thriller from Argentina occasionally gets off track, straying into territory that has little to do with the main story line. But they are interesting digressions, and it's sort of nice to have a movie that's so unpredictable.
"The Aura" re-teams veteran Argentinian actor Ricardo Darin and screenwriter/director Fabian Bielinsky, who were also paired in the award-winning 2000 thriller "Nine Queens."
Darin stars as Esteban Espinosa, an epileptic taxidermist. Esteban has been dragged along by his friend Sontag (Alejandro Awada) on a hunting trip in Patagonia, but things quickly get out of hand. First, Esteban mistakenly shoots and kills another hunter (Manuel Rodal), but rather than reveal his mistake, he decides to cover it up.
Then, when some of the dead man's seedy associates arrive seeking his aid, Esteban bluffs his way through the confrontation. To his surprise, the crooks even allow the quick-thinking Esteban to join them in a planned casino heist. It's a thrilling opportunity for Esteban, who's been dreaming about pulling off the perfect heist. But, of course, things definitely won't go as planned.
Like his previous film, this is strong work from the late Bielinsky. He makes good use of Lucio Godoy's subtle score and innovative — but never gimmicky — camera work, which simulates the look and feel of an epileptic seizure.
It's also stellar work from the steely-eyed Darin. We never really know what his character is thinking, which only makes some of the film's tense moments more vivid and uncomfortable.
That said, the pacing here might be a bit slow for audiences expecting more action from their thrillers.
"The Aura" is not rated but would probably receive an R for some strong scenes of violence (mostly shootings) and strong sexual language (profanity and crude slang terms). Running time: 132 minutes.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com