Friday, May 6, 2011

Mantando Cabos

Mantando Cabos , Killing Cabos (2004)
Dir:Alejandro Lozano

In honor of Cinco De Mayo I have decided to revisit a film I have not seen in a few years and this film honestly got me interested in hunting down the classic Luch films of yesteryear although that is not exactly what this film is entirely, But it is thoroughly entertaining indeed.
Businessman Jaque plans to marry his bosses daughter which does not sit well with her socialite father, especially after he walks in on his employee and his daughter in the act. Upon finding this disturbing sight, Mr. Cabos beats Jaque within an inch of his life. Now instead of quiting his job and moving on he decides to return to work the following day which indeed does not make things better as Cabos goes to attack Jaque again but ends up taking a spill in the process.While unconscious Cabos long time ex friend and now janitor decides to loot the sleeping boss. This leads us to a scene of Jaque and his friend Mudo in a restroom sitting in a series of stalls where they are hiding Cabos' nude body and pondering what to do with the body.Elsewhere outside in the parking lot a duo of goons are plotting to kidnap Cabos for ransom but accidentally nab the wrong man when seeing someone in his clothing. Now the two groups both have a body in their trunks and head to their separate destinations. Jaque and Mudo get into a road rage incident with a strange cross eyed man which leaves their trunk jammed so they call up some muscle to help with their problem. Enter Ruben a former Lucha legend known as Mascarita who does not like being called that and he goes off at anyone who mentions his past.As Ruben helps open the trunk they come up with the brilliant idea of dousing him in alcohol and dropping him at his own house where Cabos' wife Gabriella is planning a high society party, After having some drinks at a local bar with Ruben's little friend Cannibal Tony which leads to a brawl. Meanwhile Botcha and Nico arrive at Lula's house thinking they have Cabos and they try to contact his wife to collect some ransom to no avail.










Jaque and gang go to his pad to get Ruben some clothes to blend in at the party where they have a run in with a trigger happy neighbor with a annoying bird before heading out to the celebration. Paulina Cabos goes to Lula's house where Nico and Botcha believe they are hiding out Cabos' body, They play it off as they are a couple and now they are also invited to the festivities. As Paulina leaves, Botcha cuts a finger of the hostages hand in order to scare the ransom from the Cabos family. Everyone arrives at the party and all seems to be going fine but, back at Lula's Nico is watching the hostage and beating on him until it is revealed the hostage is indeed Botcha's father, Cabos' ex friend and janitor. Nico calls Paulina to alert her of the switch and she makes a mad dash to her place. At the Party Little Tony sparks up a instant romance with Cabos' wife, things go array as Botcha finds that Paulina has left and there is a problem with the hostage. Botcha attempts to steal Ruben's precious car and this sets the former wrestler off which leads to a car chase where Botcha gives chase opening fire.The chase leads them through a coliseum where Botcha takes a huge dive through the bleachers in his newly aquired car, but miraculously survives the crash.Back at Paulina's Nico and her try and plan a way to hide the hostage before Botcha finds out about the switch, but they are spotted trying to open Jaques trunk where the real Mr. cabos is. Ruben quickly takes care of Nico and takes the car back before Botcha arrives.  Ruben also takes the hostage they had thinking it was Cabos. The group arrives at the party and leave the wrong body outside the party.




Nico awakes tied up at Paulina's as she has dropped dime on him about the hostage being Botcha's father, he gathers the info he needs and as Jaque and Mudo arrive home the next morning thinking all is well Botcha and Nico are there waiting to interrogate them about his father. They confused have no idea , believing they had Cabos the entire time. Things look grim for the duo until Botcha gets annoyed by the neighbors bird and barge into his apartment only to get himself shot by the gun wielding madman. Now leaving just Nico with Jaque and Mudo , Ruben arrives to try and talk some sense into Nico about going to jail for murder and being raped in prison. This surprisingly does the trick and he leaves them to go free. As Ruben , Jaque and Mudo watch the news at a local bar about the on goings, we see Mr. Cabos making his way home only to find his wife still in bed and as Cannibal flees quickly Cabos runs outside only to find the drunken Janitor from his job leading him to believe it was him who fleed from the house and the movie ends on that note.



Mantando Cabos is a pretty entertaining and fun watch for those who do not mind subtitles. I see it as kind of a more comedic Mexican Tarrantino style film along the lines of Pulp Fiction or Jackie Brown. The characters of Ruben " Mascarita" and Tony  " Cannibal" are hilarious , especially Ruben when he has drug induces flashbacks to classic style Lucha films from the 60's and 70's when he is driving in the early parts of the film fighting off zombies werewolves and Alien women. Surprisingly no nudity in this film which makes it a light enough watch for almost anyone with the exception of some of the violence and language but then again most movies and T.V. shows nowadays feature much worse and are rated for teens and under.The plot is not the most original but it keeps you interested and the film never takes itself too seriously , which in this case is a good thing.I must say that I liked it allot better the first time I watched it a few years back but it still holds up as a genuinely good film. If you are in the mood for something a little different this one would make a good choice for a booze and movie night as long as you can keep up with the subs. I promise even with the plot being somewhat used before you have not seen a film like this before. In the end I do recommend this film for fans of foreign cinema as it is a fun rider from beginning to end.
Gore:5
Nudity:1
Characters:6
Story:6
Overall: 6 out of 10

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