Director: Raúl Arévalo
Writers: Raúl Arévalo (screenplay), David Pulido (screenplay)
Stars: Antonio de la Torre, Luis Callejo, Ruth Díaz
Tarde para la ira or The Fury of a Patient Man is a revenge movie about the merciless José (De La Torre) who plans to find and extract revenge against a criminal gang and takes the law into his own hands against them. José executes this revenge acting as judge, jury and executioner against those responsible of the death of his beloved fiancée.
The movie opens in a street in Madrid with Curro in the driving seat of a car waiting patiently for the other members of his gang to return from robbing a bank. As the Police chase the other gang members down the street on foot, Curro has no choice but to drive off from the scene. As he races through the Madrid streets with the police hot in pursuit you know already this movie is going to be entertaining. The whole sequence is one long shot and from the perspective of a back seat passenger watching as Curro desperately tries to avoid the law.
Just as you think he might just escape the car collides with another vehicle (remember we are still watching this from Curro’s perspective) and the car rolls upside down. The whole sequence is very similar to what McG did in Terminator Salvation in the opening scenes where you are right behind the actor the whole time and this style of filming really draws you into the action from the kick off.
As Curro struggles out of the car he is met by the law and the screen goes black. We are then introduced to José the main character in the movie. It’s at this point I wasn’t exactly sure if this was in the same time as the previous scenes but it is slowly explained that this is some time after those events (8 years to be exact) and you slowly discover that José has been getting close to Curro’s family (especially Curro’s wife Ana played by the brilliant Ruth Díaz and close nit friends in order to find the members of the robbery gang and especially the member of the gang who brutally murders his fiancée in the bank that day.
Antonio De La Torre is convincing as the man who has lost it all and seeks revenge on the gang who murdered his bride to be. De La Torre as José is cold and calculated and portrays the character well that even though you know his acts of violence are wrong you understand the angle the character is coming from and I don’t think the audience is shocked on how far José will go as he works his way through the gang for justice.
Luis Calleja is excellent as Curro the “Getaway Driver” who is released from the jailafter eight years after the robbery. Conflicted by the safety of his family that José is keeping from him. The supporting cast of Raúl Jiménez as Juanjo, Font García as Julio, Pilar Gómez as Pili, Alicia Rubio as Carmen and Manolo Solo as Triana are exactly that, the supporting cast and they all have a part to play in this movie with each of them developed and building a relationship with the audience members as the family and friends who welcome José into their circle.
Director Raúl Arévalo manages to create a real gritty atmosphere and with excellent dialogue delivered perfectly by De La Torre and the rest of the cast. Arévalo, at just 36, is a 16-year veteran as an actor known for También La Lluvia (2010) Con Culo Al Aire (2012) El Tiempo Entre Costuras (2013) Velvet (2015) and La Embajada (2016) really hits the ground running with his directorial and writing debut totally commits himself to the mechanics of the story, showing a remarkable grasp of tone across the movies four chapters (each telling a different point of view).
Bringing strong images and darkness cinematographer Arnau Valls Colomer (Toro and Spy Time), who filmed mostly on location in Madrid has to be commended for keeping with Arévalo’s gritty vision for this film. In particular, the opening scene within the getaway car really draws you into the movie within the first couple of minutes thanks to the point of view angle inside the vehicle as it’s chased by the police in the streets of Madrid ending in a collision with the car overturning is pretty spectacular.
The score by Vanessa Garde who previously worked on Misconduct (2016) and Lucio Godoy who worked on The Others (2001) is thrilling and really adds to the feel and the tone of the movie which pulls you in, especially in some of the tense scenes.
The Fury of a Patient Man is a gripping suspense action movie that I enjoyed and can’t recommend enough. Hollywood could learn a thing or two on how to make a GREAT revenge film that will keep you entertained from start to finish and “Tarde para la ira” certainly delivers.
Movie Burner Entertainment 