I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

If this was the 'best' Mexico had that year, the others must have been pretty bad. It was slow. Too many car rides and views from the back seat. The lead actor s**cked in his role. Others weren't much better. The DVD cover had "Stunning", "Powerful" and "Soul of Mexico" as praises. Bull! Not a good film and this was chosen Best Director at Cannes? Sheesh.

"Heli" was the official submission from Mexico for the 2014 Oscars for Best Foreign Language Picture, though it was not selected to be nominated. It also received the Best Director award at Cannes. And, it's finally coming out on DVD. But should you see it? Yes… and no. For the right persons, it might be worth seeing…though for most folks, I don't think so. This is because although the film has a very simple story and it's told with minimal emotion and very low energy…and punctuated, on occasion, with extreme violence….among the most extreme I have ever seen in a film. Heli is a hardworking young man with a wife, a child, a sister and father living with him. He has a good job working at the local assembly plant and his life is pretty ordinary. Little did he realize that due to his very young sister's infatuation with a young thug, his entire family would be torn apart in the space of only a few hours. That's because his sister's boyfriend is an idiot…an idiot who stole a couple kilos of cocaine from a local gang and hid them at Heli's house! And soon, both the gang and some very corrupt cops arrive and decide to teach them all a lesson. What follows is a very vivid scene of extreme torture…so extreme I won't go any further. Suffice to say it is not for those with a weak stomach. What follows is how Heli deals with all of this.The film is interesting because it shows the horrible side of Mexico we don't often see in films. Drug gangs are a scourge…encouraged by consumption of all these drugs north of the border. But in the film the federal police whose job it is to stop these gangs are often shown as being as violent and soulless as the gangs…and sometimes are in league with them. I applaud the movie for talking about this unholy alliance.Unfortunately, the film also has quite a bit working against it….primarily, but not exclusively, vivid torture. Safe to say, most folks don't want to see that! Additionally, the minimalistic acting style is a problem. When folks aren't doing horrible things to each other, often the characters (Heli in particular) are almost zombie- like with their lack of emotion. There also are a few rough edits and the film has a look that is a bit rough as well. Overall, it's a real mixed bag. I wanted to like the film much more than I did. Toning down the horrific violence would be a good start at making it a better movie. Sure, you need to know how vicious and awful the gangs and police can be…but you also don't want to see every excruciating detail.

Reviewers will probably emphasize the violence depicted in this movie, and there are about 3 brutal scenes, but they should not be considered the main 'attraction' of this movie. There are tons wonderfully beautiful pictures that overshadow the violence, and I will remember this movie by those. There's a laugh here and there as well (Beto showing his strength, the female detective) and it's cool that all though the events that took place change Heli's life forever, he seems to come out healed in the end. There's hope, which is shown in a beautiful last shot by the way. Go and see it on a big screen if you can !

A dark and twisted tale set in Mexico with beautiful cinematography. It might be very hard to watch for its long takes and some incredibly disturbing scenes."Heli" tells the tragic story of main character (Heli), a teenager, and his sister's boyfriend, a soldier, who gets Heli's family in trouble when he tries to steal some cocaine.The movie was pretty slow for the first two acts, its up until the third act that the action starts. I did admire the technical aspects of it (the cinematography), but it wasn't really anything special as the critics are saying. It felt like they were trying to emulate what Carlos Reygadas does in his films, but I did get what they meant when they called it unflinching.It was really heartbreaking to watch, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone for the brutal violence and animal cruelty it contains. I would've liked it a lot better if they would've hurried up with the story by editing a couple of scenes out, had the actors showed a little more emotion, or had the film made a more satiric approach like "El Infierno".As I said, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, at least not to watch it in a movie theater, but if you're looking for an artsy, realistic crime story you might like it if you enjoyed movies similar to "Irreversible", "Traffic", "Despues de Lucia", "The Hunt", or "Amour".