Brilliant and touching

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Okay,don't laugh - the acting Is so terrible that even the 'cop' who doesn't have a single line fails to carry It off, but as the film progresses the main actors do manage to carry It off so fair play to them. The story-line Is actually very good - A young bad-boy drug addict gets shot up and stumbles Into the path of a Mexican valets' car. The valet picks up the lads wallet and - thinking the boy Is dead - uses his I.D. to solve his problem as an illegal immigrant. While the boy recovers In hospital the Valet not only creates a complete new identity but rises to the top - executive status,property,the lot (rather too quickly for my liking) meanwhile our erstwhile bad-boy has seen the light,found the AA as well as love and got a tough job In a warehouse. And so begins the chaos of double-identity and the pitfalls for both those involved. Most of the bit-part actors are terrible but the main characters do manage to redeem It for the rest.

When a drug deal goes bad an addict steals an ID card from some one he thinks is dying and uses it to set up a better life for himself. Complications arise when the man he thought died hasn't.Low budget thriller/drama isn't much of anything. Its one of a growing number of direct to video feature films that really don't have the spark to become something worth seeing. Its not bad, but at the same time its not good enough to really recommend it. Its the sort of thing that if you ended up forced to watch it you wouldn't totally hate the time spent but at the same time short if you have other choices they're almost certainly going to be better.

The first comment summarizes the plot for this movie with numerous details. I hesitated in continuing to view this film because of the lines and delivery, along with the background acoustics were not as professional as the big league films (the scene with Antonio Chavez at the DMV is a prime example, with them sounding like they were in a hollow echo box), but, hey, this wasn't a big leaguer. The theme of the story held my interest, and after pushing aside the initial thwart of what seemed like line-reading, I continued watching and was intrigued to know how the story would unravel and the ending resolution. The story content and the characters kept this film working. They kept it cohesive.This film wasn't a "message" movie, but it did contain a fair amount, but not rammed down one's throat regarding drugs, violence and getting clean. This movie covered a great deal of territory (drugs, money, sins of the flesh, jealousy, ambition ... and identity theft with a twist) giving a blend of a parallel of lifestyles in reverse, but with interesting depth and insights. These insights in how they were conveyed were creatively well done. Raul Villarreal's role was a tough one to pull off and put across believably, but he did well in the various transformations of his character becoming a responsible and compassionate young man in the face of so many adversities. In fact, Antonio Chavez' role had many facets of twisting transformations as well. Considering the short length of a movie's time, both actors carried it off well and probably better than many famous actors could manage. The one thing that bothered me was I kept thinking Raul Villarreal was wearing a wig, which I found to be distracting (it wasn't the little tail in the back of his head so much as his forehead hairline and, well, it just looked like a 1980's cheap Japanese wig with a bleached ponytail in the back instead of straight up). It was distracting enough that it was harder to get into his character. Perhaps it looked better on the big screen, but on my 30" crt TV squinting at the DVD widescreen format, well, it just looked bad. Despite this, I hope to see more of Raul Villarreal in future films ... he has more to offer given time.Yes, there are great blockbuster movies to watch, but I have to say that this movie has merit and should not be dismissed because of the lack of funds to give it better props (at least expense was made on the jacket art for the DVD, but alas, lacked English subtitles for the hearing impaired). Low budget and rough edges, but it is worth the bother.

I was tricked into seeing this after reading the plot outline, which sounded interesting enough for me to check it out. It is as You might already know about a illegal Mexican who needs an opportunity to stay in the USA. This opportunity is given to him when a shot up drug dealer with American citizenship dies right in front of him. Francisco (the illegal) goes through his wallet and leaves with his ID, which he uses to get a new life. In the meantime Diego - the dealer survives and is sent to jail. After he gets out he tries to go straight, cause a woman gets him to change his thinking and ultimately turns him into a better person. Since there are two people with the same social security number things get mixed up pretty bad - Both Francisco and Diego find themselves neck deep in problems with the DMV, the IRS and revenge thirsty gangsters. This movie has its problems, but it is ultimately saved by 1.the story, which while not too original is clever enough, 2.by the characterization - while both leads are one-dimensional they evolve and go from good to bad and vice versa; and 3. by the sometimes witty dialogue. On the bad side the movie looks like a cheap TV-production, the actors are either wooden or overacting (especially Diego doing an rather laughable Scarface impersonation during the drug deal). Since for most of them this is the first time in front of the camera I am more than willing to forgive them. On the good side is the characterization - Diego (sporting an awful Tony Montana haircut with blond strains in it) comes out pretty enjoyable if hot headed, while Francisco in the beginning is a really nice guy and becomes with the time more and more cold and calculating. Despite the bad acting they somehow manage to pull it off. I didn't have to question the motives of any of the characters. The picture quality was pretty good for such a low budget movie. I liked the gun-play too, people shooting without aiming and actually not hitting much... reloading when they have to... Diego for example is being shot through an armchair, and in any Hollywood blockbuster the hero would find a pretty good cover behind one of those... Diego also looks pretty confident wielding a handgun, looks like the actor knows his guns. Francisco on the other hand is more than hesitant when he has to resource to an firearm, being an opportunist whose previous occupation was parking cars. I am not usually a fan of low budget movies and I am seldom able to sit through one... But this one didn't have me checking my watch hoping for the credits. I can't say this was not predictable, but to be honest I couldn't guess whether the lead will live or die in the end. I am maybe giving "Identity theft" more credit than it deserves... Just know that if You are not willing to forgive its shortcomings You will probably hate it. I can't say I loved it, but it was OK and entertained me.