Susanna (to Octavio): You and your plans. You know what my grandmother used to say? If you want to make God laugh... tell Him your plans.
Three lives are connected to a car crash in Mexico- which means the end of dreams for two of them, while a fresh start for the third. The movie is set in three acts: Octavio & Susanna; Daniel & Valeria; El Chivo & Maru.
The first act is about Octavio (Gael Garcia Bernal), who lives with his brother, Ramiro, and sister-in-law, Susanna. Octavio falls in love with Susanna and on witnessing the abusive treatment of Susanna in the hands of his brother, he plans to run away with Susanna. He uses his dog, Cofi, in underground dog fights and wins big, and lets Susanna keep all his money safely away from Ramiro. When another street thug loses all his fights to Octavio's dog, he shoots Cofi, and violence breaks out between the two. While Octavio is chased by those gang men in a car, Cofi lies bleeding in his car, just before the accident.
Daniel and Valeria (Goya Toledo) are about to get married soon after Daniel divorces his wife. They have already taken a beautiful apartment that overlooks the big ad banner on the street picturing Valeria at her sexiest. When Valeria leaves the apartment, she becomes the other party involved in the accident. She gets temporarily crippled in the accident, but a day of neglect makes her condition worse and her leg is amputated. As she looks out of the window consumed with self-pity, she sees the ad has been removed, only to confirm the transient nature of her beauty.
El Chivo (Emilio Echeverria) is a hit-man who also works as a trash picker while staying among stray dogs in a mess. Separated from his wife and daughter a long time ago, he spies on his grown-up daughter, Maru, but never gathers the courage to walk up to her to reveal his identity. Long time back when he was a guerilla, he had left his family to "set the world right", but wound up in jail and has now accepted his fate. On the day of the accident, he is at the site to carry out a hit. Amidst the confusion at the scene, he manages to collect all of Octavio's money and also takes away Cofi. After straightening a few things out, he leaves all the money to Maru and leaves her a message on her answering machine, and finally finds closure.
Debutant director Alexandro Gonzalez makes all these characters real. There is a constant theme underlying the three stories where a dog (Spanish: perros) plays a central role in each and they are all longing for a love that is elusive. The brutality of life is symbolically portrayed in the dog fights, which also in a way suggests it's really no one's fault the way some things turn out. Everybody plays his/her roles while hoping for the best and having no control on external factors. The scenes are raw and intriguing, and the two and a half hour's length is well justified in the end.
Rating: 7.5/10
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