Sin Nombre (Cary Fukunaga) 2009

Sayra’s father comes back to Honduras to bring her and her brother to New Jersey to share in the American dream so to speak.  The trip is long and there is the chance of being caught by many different countries border agents.  Meanwhile Casper is the member of one of the warring gangs in the area.  Casper’s love is killed by the second in command.  When the same man holds up the train where Sayra is on and will either rape/kill Sayra, Casper intervenes and kills the man.  Casper then tags along and helps Sayra cross Mexico.  The gang puts the green light out to all their agents to kill Casper.

This may sound like a preachy diatribe on illegal immigration like Under the Same Moon or even to a lesser extent The Visitor but its not the case.  Its a road movie with suspenseful elements thrown in.  Casper is a man trying to atone for past guilt and Sayra is working through family issues.  The suspense comes in with the gang hunting down Casper.  There are members everywhere hunting him and to make matters worse other gangs want to kill him because they still consider him a member with the tatts.  There are also suspenseful moments of sneaking through areas with border patrols and cops.

Its a simple story (and a little predicable at times) but its well told.  The gang members are scary dudes and the violence is brutal.  The acting (from relatively new people) is very good and the direction is well done.  Sin Nombre is a strong movie.  Is there anything that makes it transcendent of the genre.  Not really.  Its very good and I think worth a watch though.  Probably best to wait to till DVD when its more available.