Darío Grandinetti Movies

A young man who has grown up on the streets wants to do right by his mother -- even as he lives outside the law -- in this stylish action drama from Spain. Ricky (Mario Casas) was only 12 years old when he was left to fend for himself after his mother Pura (Angela Molina) ended up in jail on prostitution charges. Even though she let him down, Ricky is still devoted to his mom as he pedals goods on the street to support himself and lives with a makeshift family that includes Angelito (Vicente Romero), a low-rent pimp; his half-bright sidekick The Kid (Luciano Caceres); Angelito's drug-addicted lover Scrag (Macarena Gomez); and Princess (Damaso Conde), an eccentric cross-dresser convinced she's descended from royalty. Eager to give his mother a better life, Ricky wants to open a brothel that she can run when she's released from prison, and with some help from Angelito and The Kid, he's nearly gotten the illegal business off the ground when he discovers Pura's growing senility would make it impossible for her to run the establishment. Even worse, local gangster El Chino (Dario Grandinetti) doesn't like Ricky giving him competition and demands a huge protection payment if the business is to stay open. Ricky doesn't have the sort of bankroll El Chino demands, so he and his partners make a desperate attempt to raise the cash by kidnapping Veronica (Blanca Suarez), whose father is a powerful but dishonest police detective (Antonio de la Torre). Carne de Néon (aka Neon Flesh) was written and directed by Paco Cabezas, who adapted the story from a short subject he made in 2005. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Daniel Cebrian's gritty coming-of-age drama Segundo Asalto (AKA Round Two, 2006), concerns Angel, a twenty-year-old loner and an aspiring boxer with extremely poor career prospects. When Angel encounters Vidal, a career criminal who aggressively tries to persuade him to take "the easy route" by participating in a series of bank robberies, he is virtually torn in two directions - forced to choose between the familiar environment of the boxing ring, and the seemingly "easy" route to which Vidal beckons. As a result, Angel's sense of stability begins to crack and weaken under this external pressure, and he starts to lose his bearings. But ironically, by responding to Vidal's proposition, Angel can determine his core values and goals and the direction of his life, and thus gain the inner strength necessary to move forward. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

When the paths of two couples attempting to salvage what's left of their failing relationships cross, the effects of the fateful meeting reverberates throughout the rest of their lives in director Pedro Olea's affecting and humanistic relationship drama. The scene is a popular restaurant, and as Elena (Maribel Verdú) and Chus (Jorge Sanz) argue shamelessly while dining with a group of friends, Oscar (Darío Grandinetti) and Sara (Maria Barranco) make one desperate final attempt to work out their many marital discrepancies. Upon crossing paths later that evening, all four find that a temporary solution to their problems is enough for their relationships to weather the emotional storm for the time being. Years later, in the emergency room of a local hospital, the two couples' paths cross once again as Elena and Chus celebrate the birth of their son while lamenting the growing emotional divide that keeps them from truly connecting. Though an unspeakable tragedy has befallen Oscar and Sara, Sara and Chus develop a supportive friendship that helps to guide them through the darkness as Elena and Oscar cross the boundary from friendship into something far more intimate. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Laura Mana's psychological thriller Killing Words concerns a test of words and wills between a serial killer and the woman he is keeping as his prisoner. Laura is tied up in the killer's basement, but he agrees to release her if she can beat him at a word game. However, if she loses, she will never leave his private dungeon. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Italian director Paolo Agazzi spins this deft, witty fable about rural life in Bolivia. The film opens with a traveling actor being discovered making love to the wife of a local bigwig on stage. Years later, the bereaved big shot is so afraid that he is going to lose his gorgeous daughter Celeste (Maria Laura Garcia) the same way he lost his wife that he has literally chained her to the house. Meanwhile, local author Oscar (Gustavo Angarita) is fascinated with a newly-arrived stranger, Abelardo (Dario Grandinetti), who has brought with him an entire broadcast system. Soon the sleepy town has its first taste of the media. Later, as the radio broadcasts start to cause chaos, both Abelardo and Oscar fall for Celeste. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

In this musical drama, a tango tribute set in Buenos Aires of the '30s, factory worker Juanita (Aitana Sanchez-Gijon) goes with musician Gustavo (Juan Echanove) who plays in a tango combo with singer Renzo (Dario Grandinetti), known for his resemblance to famed tango superstar Carlos Gardel (who died in a 1935 plane crash). Juanita ditches Gustavo for Renzo, and when Gardel is unable to do a radio commercial, a substitution by Renzo brings enough fame to propel the group on a Latin American tour. Renzo visits a Colombia hotel where Gardel is staying, and when Gardel returns to Argentina, Renzo once again serves as a replacement, this time in a live performance -- but fate steps in as Renzo heads home. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

In this lively Spanish-Argentine comic fantasy, two luckless actors get angry and with the help of a high school drama class jolt a sleepy, rural Argentina town into to taking much-needed political action. Before coming to town the disillusioned duo were making a meager existence performing their little play at cabarets and in small cafes. Despite their adverse position, Angel remains optimistic. Unfortunately, partner Eduardo, a fiery Basque, has had enough and angrily threatens to quit. An auto breakdown leads the two to the town which is in the process of electing new officials. The actors get booked to perform at a campaign dinner. There, the Eduardo loses his cool and launches a fiery attack on the official's big plan for building an enormous tourist hotel. A riot nearly ensues afterward. Later they encounter an old friend and former revolutionary who has become a school teacher in town and it is he who rallies his class to help Eduardo and Angel put their new play on at the town's ramshackle, abandoned theater. Naturally, the mayor and other officials are not happy that a reactionary play is being prepared in their town and do all they can to stop it. In the end, though a final conflict between the officials and the townsfolk provides the story's climax. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this outrageous Spanish-language farce, the grandmother in a middle-class Argentine family opts to go to a neighbor's house and baby-sit, without telling anyone of her whereabouts. In the mean time, the sons of the family discover the corpse of another elderly woman and mistake the body for that of the matriarch; lo and behold, the grandmother eventually turns up once again and questions the identity of the woman in the casket, scaring everyone half to death. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

In a sudsy rendition of the melodramatic turmoil of a doctor's personal life, this routine story focuses on the good doctor -- Carlos Ventura (Luis Brandoni) and his principle patient, a young man hit by a car and so badly hurt that the other doctors gave him up for dead. Ventura pours his knowledge and skill into saving the young man, partly as a means of forgetting the fact that his wife has just left him and that his son thinks he is a cold fish. Needless to say, the young patient miraculously works his way back into reasonable health after several months -- but can that do anything for the doctor's problems on the home front? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

In this cheerfully surrealistic romance, a poet named Oliverio (Darío Grandinetti) lives by his wits in Buenos Aires, winning dollars by reciting his poems to passing motorists who stop at red lights or by occasionally trading a poem for a steak from a sympathetic restaurateur. His friends include an eccentric Canadian sculptor and Death (Nacha Guevara) himself, who often encourages him to get a regular job. When he grows tired of the women he is sleeping with, his bed becomes a doorway to elsewhere, and they simply disappear. This all changes somewhat when he falls in love with a high-class (and evidently very gifted) hooker. Their lovemaking sessions literally result in the couple levitating. Increasingly obsessed with meeting her fee, the free-spirited poet gets a job in advertising. At one point, their sexual encounter literally sends them flying over the city. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi