Amores Perros is a Mexican film by Director Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu. The film details three love stories that intersect at a brutal car crash. The title is sort of a play on words. "Love is a Btch" provides some insight into the type of love stories, while the literal translation "dog" has a heavy influence on the film. Inarritu has a strange perspective, which I enjoyed in films like Babel and 21 Grams (not so much in Biutiful).

Octavio (Gael Garcia Bernal) lives at home with his brother Ramiro (Marco Perez) and his sister-in-law, Susana (Vanessa Bauche). Ramiro has a bad temper, violent tendencies and some mental instability...a dangerous combination. His treatment of Susana leaves much to be desired. Octavio is secretly in love with Susana. He plans to take Susana away with him to Juarez. He is saving his winnings from fighting his dog, Cofi, in high-stakes dog fights. While Octavio is winning plenty of money, he is also earning an enemy who has plans to extract revenge.

Valeria (Goya Toledo) is a cover model for a popular fragrance. She is secretly in love with Daniel (Alvaro Guerrero) who is already married. Daniel finally leaves his wife to be with Valeria when a tragic car accident leaves her scarred and disfigured. The relationship is strained by Valeria's despair over her career, her immobility, her lost dog and her unfounded suspicions.

El Chivo (Emilio Echevarria) is a former guerrilla. He lives in a rundown warehouse with his pack of stray dogs. El Chivo is also a hitman. His appearance allows him to drift around town drawing very little attention. He left his wife and daughter when his daughter was two. When he reads that his wife has died, he desperately seeks to reconnect with his daughter. It is a strained, hopeless effort. When El Chivo inadvertently brings an injured fighting dog into his home, he discovers things about himself that he may not have wanted to know. Finding a kindred spirit, El Chivo sets out toward a new life.

Guillermo Arriaga wrote this intersecting story, which has a tendency to bounce around. Arriaga uses the car accident as a central event that helps provide context for the three intersecting stories. While I was able to use the car accident to help identify where I was in terms of the chain of events, I still found some of the timing to be off. For instance, a seriously injured dog is completely and visibly healed after just one week. The time frames seemed artificially pressed together to tell the entire story within a very short time frame. While this did not affect the overall themes, it bothered me somewhat.

The actual stories were intricate portraits of well developed characters that simply rang true. It pulled off the Hollywood facade and gave us the gritty reality beneath. That seemed fresh. While the stories are carefully woven together, it never felt contrived. My only other complaint is that the film ended abruptly. While the loose ends were fairly well tied together, at the end of a long 154 minutes, I felt that there was still something missing.

I have always been a fan of Gael Bernal Garcia, although I haven't always loved the movies he does. He is an excellent actor that continued to impress me in his portrayal of Octavio. I also enjoyed Echevarria, who was convincingly good. His character has obvious flaws yet somehow touches the audience. I enjoyed the entire cast and should probably also mention the trainers who worked with the animal "actors." I hope and pray that the scenes were simulated, which I am certain they were. It was discomforting, but well done.

Speaking of the animals, Amores Perros received an R rating from the MPAA. One aspect of that rating is the dog fighting. If you are an animal lover, like myself, you will find these scenes disturbing. It was hard for me to watch even when I told myself the fights were simulated. There was plenty of blood, giving this film a moderate to high gore factor. The film also included an assassination, several shootings, and other violence among humans. There are a couple of sex scenes with nudity limited to a brief shot of exposed breasts. The rating for this film is accurate. There is plenty of disturbing material that would cause me to seriously consider the age group for this film. I would start around the mid-teens for this one.

I enjoyed Amores Perros. It was not perfect, but most of my complaints were for minor things. at the end, I felt I invested a lot of time but was left wanting something, yet the film still seemed complete. The runtime also seemed a bit too long, in spite of my prior statement. There is a lot of stuff packed into this film, which centers on love. Great cast, great look, interesting characters, strong dialogue, realistic. It is an older movie that is worth dropping in the queue. 8/10.

Trailer and images subject to copyright by Altavista Films.