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Poster for El bonaerense

El bonaerense

2002 · 1h 45m Drama
Directed by Pablo Trapero

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Overview

Zapa is a locksmith in a quiet and little town lost somewhere in the province of Buenos Aires. The work is quite slow, and hours seem to pass slowly. Polaco, the owner of the shop, sends him on a job that consists of opening a safe at an office. The next day, Zapa is imprisoned for being responsible of robbing the place. Ismael, his uncle, a retired policeman, bails him out and sends him to Buenos Aires. Zapa becomes an aspiring officer in the Buenos Aires Police. He gets to his new home city, takes the instructional course, works at a precinct, has a love affair with a teacher and starts to see his life turn into a strange fiction.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
91%
Tomatometer
Fresh

[A] powerful sweat-stained swatch of Argentine neo-realism.

Stephen Holden, New York Times
Fresh

Credit El Bonaerense with journalistic single-mindedness and, given recent Argentine history, sheer guts.

Bob Campbell, Newark Star-Ledger
Fresh

Director Trapero drives home his message -- the thin line between crooks and cops -- without hitting viewers over the head or seeming to point fingers.

V.A. Musetto, New York Post
Rotten

The vapor traces of farce and policier that waft from this terribly earnest film never coalesce.

Michael Atkinson, Village Voice
Fresh

Wry, acerbic, satiric and moving.

John Anderson, Newsday

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