Very disappointing...

Absolutely brilliant

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Beautifully shot, fabulous soundtrack, lovely editing. The director Kevin Dobson's work always has a wonderful sense of movement and feeling, He has a great cinematic sense of pace. Well cast. Some of the reviews I've read are outrageous!!! Sounds more like a bitter and twisted crew member, with a small brain. Grips aren't necessarily known for their brain power, more for brawn and pretty blouses. Took me to Mexico and back, somewhere I've always wanted to go, and showed the culture beautifully. It's a small budget independent film, and well worth a look. Some really fabulous moments. I've seen a thousand worse huge budget movies. The Jlo and Gregory Nava movie about exactly the same subject had a massive budget and was boring and slow.

THE VIRGIN OF JUAREZ is based on true events surrounding the crime problems of Juarez, Mexico reflected in the gringo exploitation of businesses in neighboring El Paso, Texas. The story contains many important facts that desperately need to be brought into the light, but the impact of the film falters because of the choices made by the writer and director.Karina Danes (Minnie Driver) is a journalist for a Los Angeles newspaper who has flown to Juarez to investigate the multiple (in the hundreds) killings of young women. The targets for these murders seem to be young women working in the US sponsored sweatshops in Juarez who are picked up at night after work, raped, beaten and killed. Danes is convinced the Juarez police force is doing nothing and takes on the mission of exposing the tragedies, in part due to her own past issues of being to idle with similar crimes in the US. She meets Father Herrera (Esai Morales) and a community activist Patrick (Angus MacFadyen) and together they probe the police files and follow the most recent murder, discovering along the way a survivor named Mariela (Ana Claudia Talancón), a frightened young girl whose memory of her rape and beating is erased by her apparent vision of the Virgin Mary. A father of one of the victims, Isidro (Jorge Cervera, Jr.) nurtures Mariela and helps her to escape the hospital, placing her in a 'church' where she becomes a 'saint' to the people of Juarez who long for the crimes to end. Mariela appears to the public with the stigmata of bleeding hands and offers hope to the victims' families. Danes works hard to discover evidence that will expose the perpetrators, taking a sheet of photos of 'most wanted men' from the police office of Detective Lauro (Jacob Vargas), and works with the police and Father Herrera to resolve the tragic chain of events that continue in Juarez. Fearing for Mariela's life, they transport her to Los Angeles where mysterious events end the story.The squeaky, mawkish script was written by Michael Fallon and directed by Kevin James Dobson. Had their vision been more directed toward defining the line between realism and fanaticism, the story would possibly have been better related. There are some good performances by Driver, Talancón, Morales, and Vargas but the minor roles vary in quality. Reporting atrocities such as the one this film addresses is a valid and valuable contribution of contemporary cinema. It is sad when script and the production dull the impact. Grady Harp

I was disappointed to see some really good actors attach their names and talents to this class of work (if we can call it that). Minnie Driver is one of my favorite actresses and after seeing her in this film, I was truly let down. She doesn't have the personality of a rough edged reporter that this type of film would require and on top of it all, the story line wasn't developed well. Esai Morales would have played a better part of an OG gang member as opposed to a priest and his younger gangster brother (Noel Gugliemi) butchers the Spanish language in the film. He didn't even use a good gang slang. Who is this guy kidding. Bad choice of the Mexican detective just trying to brave the political winds. Vargas himself belongs in gangster comedies. I'm of the firm opinion, "Find what you do well and work at doing it better than anyone else." I also thought the part played by Angus Macfadyen was a real let down. Come on man.....you have done some great parts in the past (Braveheart, Equilibrium, Saw III). Don't do this to yourself again. Leave the Hispanic roles to the Hispanic actors. Overall, the story was weak and the actors were miscast terribly with the exception of Ana Claudia Talancon. Hopefully she'll be able to live this one down and move on to some better roles.

What a bad movie I have never reviewed a movie on IMDb before but this movie is awful. The acting is terrible and the characters are one dimensional. The plot is awful, it is an overdramatization of a terrible situation that is only trivialized by this movie. I would suggest you read a one page article on these murders because it will save your time and give you a better feeling for what is really happening. Any documentary by a five year old would have done a better job of educating and almost any other movie is produced with more thought.pass on this movie. I wish I could have my time back.