by Alex Bentley

The two main ideas in this film are so big that they should have been given their own treatment, not fused into one story.

Sin Nombre, the feature length debut of American-born, Japanese-sounding writer/director Cary Fukunaga, is one of those films where it feels as if the filmmaker has so much on his mind that he wants to get it all out there as soon as possible. However, the two main ideas he has in this film are so big that they should have been given their own treatment, not fused into one story.

The two main characters of Sin Nombre come from two separate countries: Sayra (Paulina Gaitan) is taking the huge risk of trying to immigrate from Honduras to the U.S. with her father by stowing away on the top of northbound trains. Willy aka Casper (Edgar Flores) is a member of the Mexican gang La Mara Salvatrucha, though he is becoming increasingly disenchanted with life as a gangbanger.

The two meet as the train Sayra is on becomes the target of a La Mara Salvatrucha gang ritual – robbing the immigrants. Casper is recruited to come along by the leader, Lil Mago (Tenoch Huerta), along with a new (young) member, Smiley (Kristian Ferrer). A violent incident involving Casper protecting Sayra leads to Casper continuing on without his fellow gang members, and a subsequent hunt of him by La Mara Salvatrucha members across Mexico.

The two stories – the immigration story and the gang story – are each compelling all on their own. But for some reason, both of them seem to lose focus when they're combined. Despite it being ever-present due to the nature of the plot, Sayra's immigration quest is pushed to the background once Casper has to go on the run. And even though Casper trying to get away from the gang dominates the second half of the film, forcing the audience to have to pay attention to Sayra and her family takes away from some of the suspense.

It also doesn't help that a major plot twist involving Sayra is instantly unbelievable, thus essentially negating everything that follows. The film never really lets the audience get to know Sayra very well, so the idea that she would make the decision she does makes no sense, especially given how it affects her family.

Even though the story of Sin Nombre has some flaws, the acting is generally top notch. This is especially true of the gang members, although part of their menace might be the very conspicuous tattoos most of them sport. Lil Mago, for instance, is identifiable by a large M and S tattoo on his face, something which one hopes was just for the film. Ferrer stands out as Smiley, but mainly because it's extremely odd (and, for some audience members, amusing) to see this cherubic figure saying and doing horrific things.

Sin Nombre seems like it has some interesting things to say about the plight of Central American immigrants and gang culture in Mexico, but each issue ends up muted by having to share screen time with the other. One hopes Fukunaga will narrow his focus in his subsequent films, as his skills are already evident.

What do you think?