40
Luisito (Perez) is the only vegetarian butcher working in the Dominican Republic-which may, alas, be the only original aspect of this well-intentioned, well-worn revenge saga.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
60
New York Daily News by Elizabeth Weitzman
There's nothing about Josh Crook's cop saga that will strike you as new, but he and his talented lead do build an epic feel into this gritty tale of corruption.
70
The Hollywood Reporter by Frank Scheck
Although at times the film gets bogged down in psychological murkiness, the relentless pace and brooding charisma of its star overcomes its narrative deficiencies.
70
The New York Times by Jeannette Catsoulis
La Soga moves with a crazed energy that denies moral nuance. But the banal narrative (based on events in Mr. Perez's life) is elbowed aside by Josh Crook's eccentric direction and images that the cinematographer, Zeus Morand, brands with near-poetic intensity.
55
A film loaded with interest that somehow fails to be interesting, La Soga is inspired by true events and not much else.
25
It's disheartening that a story with roots in autobiography, no matter how tentative, should end up as such an impersonal genre rehash.
50
La Soga isn't without redeeming qualities: Superfluous flashbacks aside, Crook keeps the action moving at a fast clip, cutting fluidly from the streets of Santiago to its criminal pipeline in Washington Heights, and he gets a sinister turn from Calderon, a veteran character actor who plays Rafa with a soulful swagger.
70
Made mainly by Yanks and New York-based Dominicans, the vibrant film bursts with local color and trades in very specific aspects of criminality, island-style.
50
If animal slaughter makes you queasy, this movie isn't for you. Along with several cockfights, there's a long scene in which a pig is butchered. The folks at PETA would be most unhappy. People don't fare much better than the animals, with blood flowing in a seemingly unending barrage of violence.