Ladron Que Roba A Ladron is a good Latino film with a Telenovela cast (soap opera) Colunga, Lisazo, Montero, Soto and Varoni. The story, the direction and the acting were good as well with some funny moments. Few things I like about the film is how the movie begins believe it or not does things happen.

I was expecting for more and my only complaint about this movie is that the actors need to challenge themselves a little bit more and break up the "Telenovela" type of look they have so that we can see that they are up to something different.

I hope I make myself clear on this, anyways overall they make a good movie made for TV.

The number of Latin American immigrants and native-born citizens who speak Spanish as a first language is increasing in America everyday. So it is only natural that Hollywood would try to capitalize on this phenomenon by making popcorn movies set in America, but with all-Spanish dialog. "Ladron Que Roba A Ladron" is the first such film. (One might point out that Robert Rodriguez has made Spanish-language features for the past 14 years, but they are all set in Mexico).

The plot should be familiar to anyone who has seen "Oceans 11" or "The Italian Job": wily veteran thief assembles a team for the "perfect" heist; complications ensue. In the Frank Sinatra/Geore Clooney role is Miguel Varoni as Emilio, who has immigrated from Argentina to Los Angeles to plan and supervise the robbery of infomercial con-man Moctesuma Valdez (Saul Lisazo). Fernando Colunga has the Dean Martin/Brad Pitt role as Alejandro, whose "day job" of selling pirated DVD's has made him wealthy already. Rounding out the crew are getaway driver Rafa (Ruben Garfias); his beautiful daughter Rafaela (Ivonne Montero), who acts both as auto mechanic and "distraction"; Miguelito (Oscar Torres), an unemployed actor who has to pretend to be a powerful union leader one moment, and a lowly waiter the next; Julio (screenwriter JoJo Hendrickson), the computer whiz; and Anival (Gabriel Soto) who does all the heavy manual labor.

The gist of the plot (and why the movie can't be re-made in English with gringo actors) is that since immigrant laborers are so taken for granted in America, they can pretty much come and go as they please without notice. As the film goes on, we also learn that this heist is not a crime of profit. And that Emilio and Mocte have a shared past. And that not all the characters are who they seem to be. And how things that seemed like mistakes in the second act weren't really mistakes after all.

Aside from the immigrant factor, there's nothing especially original about this movie. But that doesn't keep it from being fun. Despite the cast of unknowns, I actually preferred this movie to "The Score" and "Oceans 13".

I predict that within the next ten years, we will see a Spanish-language blockbuster on the scale of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". And after that, roughly 25% of Hollywood's output will be in Spanish. "Ladron Que Roba a Ladron" may not be a masterpiece, and it may not be doing blockbuster business, but I believe it is a portent of American cinema to come. 7 out of 10.

LADRON was released in August 2007, just before the U. S. economy hit a gigantic speed bump in 2008... If you're over 25, I'm sure you remember what the next couple years were like, right?

Well, I remember watching promos for the film some years back and how people involved with the film said, "It was produced in Miami...The Capital of Latin America!" Strange...Since the big recession, really haven't heard that phrase tossed about anymore! To counter that, however, as an L. A. ex-pat, it sure looks as though a lot of the filming was done in the Hollywood Hills...But IMDb said there was no INFO on filming locations, so I can't really be sure!

If you look at the actors and the people involved in making LADRON, it is a sort of an International Hispanic "Who's Who!" In the Director's chair, we have Joe Menendez, born in NYC, Cuban-American; His life-partner, Roni Eguia Menendez is credited as #1 Producer, there is no background on his specific ethnicity, but Eguia seems to be of Basque origin.

The principal leads are: Fernando Colunga, born in Mexico City; Miguel Varoni, although born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he was raised in Colombia and most people consider him as such; Saul Lisazo is from Argentina, but has lived in Spain and now in Mexico City; Gabriel Soto, from Mexico City; Julie Gonzalo was born in Buenos Aires, but has lived in Miami since she was 8; Sonya Smith, of Telenovela Fame, born in Philly, she is Venezuelan-American. Most of the rest of the cast seem to be of Hispanic origin, but born in the USA!

LADRON is done in a style that is quite tongue in cheek. I'd say almost a BIT too much so at times, making for a rather Cavalier experience for cast and crew, who seem to be having a lot of fun making the film!

Does this insider merriment translate into viewer enjoyment? In general, yes, but not always. In any case, I think the vast majority of people will find it breezy, fun and enjoyable! Just under $7 Million Gross for most movies released in the U. S. would be considered dismal...Yet, LADRON is the highest grossing film produced and released in Spanish EVER in the U. S.! Well, at least until 2008...I can't really be sure about after that.

Yes, the film is in Spanish...Well, at least about 98% of the dialogue is in Spanish. Would a non-Spanish speaker enjoy the movie as much??? The answer to that has to be NO, of course, but that doesn't mean that it isn't worth seeing just because you don't speak Spanish. In fact, if you are interested in the dynamics of cultural differences, you might find the interaction of Hispanics from many different countries within the U. S. to be rather interesting and amusing.

How well done are the subtitles in English? Since I never pay much attention to them, I'm not really sure...But I did notice there did not SEEM to be much in the way of gaps where there were no onscreen subtitles! Sorry, but that's about the only help I can provide in that area!

ENJOY! / DISFRUTELA!

Any comments, questions or observations, in English o en Español, are most welcome!