This film tells a story, based on true events from 1965, about three men who steal seven million dollars and then flee to Uruguay together with a fourth man who runs the show from a distance. The men end up having to hide out for a much longer period of time than they expected and therefore grow a bit desperate as they face different conflicts with themselves and each other. The story is very interesting and suspenseful throughout, with some instances of comedy which lighten the serious mood that develops at times. The dialogue between the three men is very irregular as it switches from intense anger to silly comedy and even passionate love within seconds, therefore keeping the audience very unsettled and confused at times. Whilst being interesting, the story many times might make one uncomfortable as it deals with various issues, such as homosexuality and sex, which are seen through a raw lens which is not commonly used in most movies. The main issue of the robbery seems to dilute as the movie goes on, and the focus switches to the men's sexual insecurities and desires. Although this was a bit too much for my viewing preference, such issues as shown in the film are present in the world today.

I have always hesitated when seeing the DVD at the video store, but finally watched it. The only thing I knew about it was that it was about robbery and a gay couple. I also knew that I was going to see the leads 'behinds', which I thought would at least give me something to be happy about in case I didn't like the movie. My fears were confirmed.Having seen the user rating (7.4) and read the reviews posted so far I've concluded that most of grades/reviews must be on behalf of the "real", "not stereotyped", etc. relationship portrayed in the movie. That is true, but that alone doesn't make a movie good.I wasn't hoping for action (which in fact is there), but for good characters, for a good, well paced story, something to think about or at least mess with something inside me - good cinema. That didn't happen at all.The characters are poorly developed: we get to "know" them through their "thoughts" and the narrator's speech rather than through their actions and expressions, which doesn't help much to make the viewer sympathize with them. Just being gay and hot is not enough to make a -even gay- viewer like with a character, is it? The relationship between the three repeats its (poorly developed) pattern throughout the movie. Nene wants Angel, who also wants Nene but feel guilty (the "voices"), and El Cuervo makes fun/gets angry at them for being gay. Then, by the end, during the shooting, it all resolves itself in a cathartic moment: El Cuervo becomes tolerant and even sort of nice, and both lovers make peace shortly before dying. Come on, only because it's a gay couple it's not a cliché? And the movie is mostly just plain boring, as if the director was trying to stretch it for no reason with scenes that added not much to the plot and/or character development (and I'm not talking about "meaningful silences" either). Also the abuse of voice-over usually indicates lack of acting/directing skills to give the spoken message in a more artistic way. Plus the voice-over thoughts were sometimes pseudo-poetic and sounded pretentious.I don't recommend it unless you're really eager to see a gay couple on screen (and not much more).

This is an Argentinean version of "Bonnie & Clyde", and more appropriately, "Dog Day Afternoon" with excellent acting from all and sexy tango music. Unfortunately, those qualities are not enough to raise the overall quality of the film from a middling level. For me, there are two major problems. One is the meandering aimlessness of the plot. Given that this is based closely on real life events, so we are told, there really isn't much that can be done if the filmmaker chose not to dramatize the facts by taking some artistic licenses. The other is the relationship between the "twins". Many reviewers mentioned the "passionate love" between them and I just don't think the movie has shown us the reasons. All I see are two psychotic murderers with no conscience in an unhealthy codependent relationship. As much as I want to like those two antiheroes, they are just too unsavory and unsympathetic for my taste.The movie starts w/ them not being able to be intimate because of Angel's problem and by the end we still don't know what snapped in Angel except that he is loco, literally. No doubt, the only reason why they are so devoted to each other is because they are both certifiable and so they understand each other. Well, that just doesn't make me feel any more resonance for the characters. So, we are just told they love each other so much they will die for the other and to accept that without showing any reason why that is so just does not cut it. Toward the end, I was praying the police would just come quickly and kill them all to get it over with. That's not good for a movie. Many of the choices they make as criminals are reckless and plainly stupid. They might have got away with the loot had they use their brain just a little. Of course, it is a true story and that was how it happened so that is not the movie's problem. The fact that it doesn't delve into the psychological underpinning of the twin's love for each other is.

BURNT MONEY (Plata Quemada)Aspect ratio: 1.85:1Sound format: Dolby DigitalArgentina, 1965: Following a violent robbery on an armored car, two gay lovers - rebellious rich kid Nene (Leonardo Sbaraglia) and borderline schizophrenic Ángel (Eduardo Noriega) - are forced to flee with their accomplices to Uruguay, where they take refuge in a decaying apartment building. Denied sexual favors by Ángel due to his worsening mental condition, Nene takes up with a sympathetic prostitute (Leticia Brédice), leading to jealousy, betrayal and tragedy...Based on true events recounted in a non-fiction novel by Argentinian writer/critic Ricardo Piglia, and directed by former producer Marcelo Piñeyro (THE OFFICIAL STORY), BURNT MONEY is a masterpiece. Photographed with noirish intensity by Alfredo Mayo (HIGH HEELS) and underscored by an ironic soundtrack of lazy jazz and contemporary English/Spanish pop songs, the narrative is driven by powerful emotions which explode at regular intervals in outpourings of explicit sex and violence. The sacred and profane are interlinked in various ways (one extraordinary sequence cross-cuts between an act of worship in a Uruguayan church and an unpleasant encounter between Nene and a frightened youth in a public toilet), and the sweaty atmosphere is broken only by an explosive climax where the main protagonists are forced to take responsibility for their actions. Former TV actor Pablo Echarri ("Chiquititas", "El Signo", etc.) plays a younger, headstrong member of the outlaw gang, blinded by youthful arrogance to the danger in which they have all become enmeshed, while Brédice (NINE QUEENS) plays one of the few significant female characters in this otherwise all-male scenario, a brittle creature who falls in love with the wrong guy, with appalling consequences for everyone around her.More than anything else, however, BURNT MONEY is a love story, played to perfection by two of the finest young actors of their generation. Spanish heartthrob Noriega forged his career in popular mainstream entries such as THESIS, OPEN YOUR EYES and THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE, while Sbaraglia plied his trade alongside Piñeyro in the lower echelons of Argentinian cinema (TANGO FEROZ: LA LEYENDA DE TANGUITO, CABALLOS SALVAJES). Casting these two beautiful, experienced young men as lovers in a violent true-crime drama could not have been more fortuitous: Their devotions are rarely consummated on-screen (all of the aforementioned sex scenes are heterosexual), except for a chaste kiss at the end of the film, and an earlier, erotically-charged sequence in which Nene tends to a wound on Ángel's shoulder and initiates a sexual advance, only to be rebuffed because of Ángel's mental condition. And yet, Noriega and Sbaraglia are ultra-convincing as the macho thugs who would literally die for one another, and they invest every gesture, every inflection, with genuine romantic chemistry. These guys simply burn up the screen! Look out for the devastating sequence in which Nene 'confesses' to Brédice about his relationship with Ángel, where he describes their mutual affection with heartbreaking emotional candor.To his credit, Piñeyro refuses to soft-pedal the dissolute nature of his central characters. But for all its dramatic fireworks and sexual tension, BURNT MONEY is a tale of steadfast devotion, as touching and beautiful as any this reviewer has ever seen. They may be thieves and murderers, but when Nene looks into Ángel's eyes, you know instinctively that their love transcends life and death, and is destined to last an eternity. Not just a great gay film, BURNT MONEY is also a terrific love story, a heartstopping thriller, and an outstanding example of popular Spanish entertainment.(Spanish dialogue)