"Heroic Losers" is a Comedy - Crime movie in which we watch a group of people trying to recover their money after it was stolen by the manager of their bank and another corrupted lawyer during the infamous Argentinian Corralito time.
I enjoyed this movie very much because it had a simple but interesting plot and contained some plot twists that made it even more interesting. In addition to this, the direction which was made by Sebastián Borensztein was good and he succeeded on presenting very well both the plot and his main characters in order for the audience to understand them and their actions. The interpretation of Ricardo Darín who played as Fermín Perlassi was very good and he made the difference. Other interpretations worth mentioning were Rita Cortese's who played as Carmen Largio, Chino Darín's who played as Rodrigo Perlassi and Luis Brandoni's who played as Antonio Fontana. To sum up, I have to say that "Heroic Losers" is a nice movie and I recommend you to watch it.
Plot summary
August 2001, Alsina (east to Argentina, close to Atlantic Ocean). In a little town with absence of population and resources, former soccer player Fermín Pelassi and his wife Lidia decide to create a cooperative buying an abandoned silo to restore it and hire people to work, hoping to bring back the business Alsina. Talking between others with friends as aged Antonio Fontana (a self-declared anarchist and Bakunin's fan),train station chief Rolo Belaúnde, redneck expert in explosives Atanasio Medina, businesswoman Carmen Largio and the naive not-too-much-smart but lovely José and Eladio Gómez brothers, all they reunite an amount of 158,000 $. Not having a bank in Alsina, Fermín and Lidia travel the neighbor town of Villagrán to leave the money in a safe box trusting in Alvarado, bank manager, to keep it while they try to negotiate with silo's owner to reduce the original price of 300,000 $. Therefore, Alvarado convinces Fermín to change the money from the safe box to his own bank account to accelerate silo's purchase. But the next day, December 19, 2001, Argentina's government declares the infamous Corralito (a national bank freeze, preventing that any citizen can to extract from any bank more of 250 $ per day). With all them money trapped in the bank, Fermín and Lidia travel Villagrán to face without success Alvarado by the cheat. However, things worsen when during the return trip they have a car crash, where Lidia dies and Fermín is severally injured. One year later, a depressive and still mourning Fermín cared by his son Rodrigo, who left the Buenos Aires' University after the car crash, is visited by Fontana and Belaúnde to report him about news: going to Fontana's workshop, a young bank employee reveals Fermín that the same day that Alvarado convinced him to change the money, it was moved to the bank account of a corrupt lawyer and Alvavaro's partner-in-crime, Fortunato Manzi, who later kept it in an underground bunker located in the lands of a cow ranch. Looking for recover the money Rodrigo fakes to be a gardener in Manzi's office where he meets Florencia, Manzi's secretary, feeling attracted to her at the same time he learns about Alvarado's and his wife deaths in a fire in their house. While Fermín and the rest find the bunker and they try to open it, they discover in bad ways the so much strong bunker's security system, forced to runaway quickly. Tracing trace a plan to dismantle the security causing several consecutive fails on it, two unexpected troubles appear: Florencia uncovers Rodrigo, and an armed Manzi is on the verge of a collapse nervous, determined to kill anyone by the money. Fearing to lose Rodrigo as he lost Lidia, Fermín quits off the plan, but Rodrigo makes him continue despite the danger. Will can to get the money before Florencia betrays Rodrigo and Manzi catch all them?
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Very good...
Familiar story structure. but still well worth watching
I've definitely seen a couple movies with a similar premise to Heroic Losers. In fact, there are elements of this plot that are remarkably similar to Tower Heist, a movie that I found extremely lackluster. The nice thing about this film is that it didn't lean too heavily into the comedy where it felt like they were trying too hard. Instead the plot plays out like a drama, but there is still a sprinkling of comedy because the characters are all quite entertaining. Also, the mere premise of a group of everyday blue collar people looking to pull a heist is inherently funny, and they do a good job of making it entertaining for the audience without becoming goofy or farcical. This is a simple, but well-constructed story that never lost me, as I was fully engaged in the characters and their story. So many of them show growth and development as the story progresses. Also, they all have their own unique personality, so I never once got confused over who was who.
I think the advantage Heroic Losers has is that the plot is naturally built to make you sympathetic for all the protagonists. You like them long before the movie ever asks you to take their side. These are not malicious men and women, but people you could see yourself befriending. Ricardo Darin is particularly engaging as the one who first brings all these people together, and he has some scenes that almost brought me to tears because he nailed the emotion so well. Admittedly, there isn't a lot of story to talk about in this film, because it is fairly straightforward, and follows a linear progression that you can often guess in advance. However, I was so invested in the characters and their mission that I could not look away. Heroic Losers is the kind of movie that could easily become comfort-viewing for me. It has a fun adventure story and enough interesting people that I was almost as engaged by this heist as I am by something like Ocean's 11.
English subtitles are available, so there is no excuse not to watch this funny underdog movie.
A small village gets robbed of it's well earned money by a corrupt bank manager and the village people swear revenge.
Great underdog story of standing up against the bully. Funny as well. Simply a charming tale of locals, who bond together during a financial crisis. Ingenuous plot. Wonderful acting performances. Simply good fun to watch. 7.5 stars.