good back-story, and good acting

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

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

I'm not very fond of co-productions between different countries, mostly between Spanish-speaking countries; but is something that is done a lot today and I have to accept it. Mexico has a very wide range of film and an important filmography inside of Latin America's countries. But…There's always one but. Lots of soap-operas are done in Mexico too, and there's a lot of television.And as I said, many times television looks like movies, which is good, but also movies look like television; which is absolutely terrible. "Nicotina" starts as silent as a telephonic call; with one line in the screen that represents a person talking, and another one that represents another person, and so it goes. It also has the usual black screen with anything on it, typical of directors that don't take risks.The story follows Lolo, a hacker lost in the lust of her neighbor Andrea's love, who has to enter an account to get money for el Nene, who drives with Tomson, and has to pay a Russian mobster that will sell some much cherished diamonds to him. This leads to shoots and encounters in different places, like Goyo's and his wife Barbershop, or Beto's and his wife Pharmacy.The actors are Marta Belaustegui, Lucas Crespi, Jesús Ochoa, Norman Sotolongo, Rafael Inclán, Rosa María Bianchi, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Carmen Madrid and Diego Luna; and they all accomplish their portrayals very well. The latter one is the cover of the film, or the most known of the actors nowadays. I won't tell his whole story, but I will say that being the reason many people saw the movie, he doesn't deliver.What ensue are multiple talks between all of the characters. Not any talks, but insightful, interesting, metaphoric talks that ultimately seem to lead to the film's title. And the writer, Martin Salinas, is probably the most prepared man of the crew, whose first words for a movie got Norma Aleandro an Oscar nomination. He has written for series, for movies in two languages… This script, however, presents a contradiction. We can't tell if his plot is an excuse to develop these conversations, or even worse, if the conversations are an excuse to fill the incoherent plot. And it's right there, in the plot, where the film has its defined problems. The ending is fantastic indeed, and thought provoking, but we get confused during the road, and we don't feel the time.When Goyo's wife is about to shoot him, the shot changes to another scenario. Strangely and incorrectly, when the camera goes back to the couple's barbershop, the woman is still holding the gun…After five minutes. Is not only Salinas' fault but director Hugo Rodriguez's; because he prefers not to take risks during his second feature.And he can't manage the timing. And it looks like television. And I didn't plan to stay home.

Great actors (and specially actresses), well defined characters (again women make the best), an interesting plot, hilarious situations and decent dialogs make this contemporary mix of violence, action and comedy not a must but a good option. Familiarity with Mexican and Argentinean culture is a plus to fully enjoy the film, although the story is by itself good enough for everyone.Extraordinary, intense and absurd as life in Latin America can be, this is a story that fits just right in a city like Mexico.Do not expect to see something like Amores Perros or Y tu mamá también, but rather something like Snatch with a Mexican flavor.

I saw a cut of this film back in February in order to cut a trailer for American audiences. I must say that I was not impressed after viewing it. The film started off interesting and silly, but as the plot unfolded it really had no where to go. Actor Diego Luna has done some fine work in his previous films, but he phoned this performance in.Also, film makers felt that they should use a Guy Richie style of editing in order to spice the film up and give it some edge, but all that did was make the film look contrived. Right now they are trying to market this film like it's Amores Perros, but this film is absolutely nothing like it, wait till video to see this film.

Hugo Rodriguez' "Nicotina" is a fun picture, but it is enough to say that it is a Mexican version of Guy Ritchie's English heist flicks, albeit less so. Less violent, less convoluted, less hilarious. And yet, still violent and convoluted andhilarious enough. So there it is. Diego Luna's in it, and ain't nobody doesn't think he's cute. Rodriguez uses funky wipes as scene transitions, punched up bygoofy sound effects, there's a scene where a bitchy barber's wife cuts open a guy's belly to get at some diamonds. And there's that smoking theme --everybody's quitting, trying to quit, in denial about quitting, can't afford the smokes, can't find any lighter fluid, something. It's a motif and it's a metaphor, though perhaps not the deepest one ever (you never what's gonna kill ya!). It makes for a catchy title, though.