Movie: Heroic Losers

Heroic Losers is similar to many feel-good ‘heist movies’ but this Argentinian comedy has several differences.

Most importantly the ‘heroes’ aren’t your sophisticated good-looking types but a motley crew of hardworking rural villagers.

And while the film mostly follows the ‘good overcoming evil’ storyline, there are a few surprises along the way.

Set in 2001 in depression-hit  Argentina, Heroic Losers tells of retired soccer star Fermin (Ricardo Darín) who wants to convert an abandoned grain silo in his poor Buenos Aires provincial village into a viable storage facility. He also wants to form an agricultural co-op.

With the help of his wife Lidia (Verónica Llinás) and friend Antonio (Luis Brandoni) he persuades fellow villagers to invest in the plan. A number contribute their life savings.

Getting close to the asking price for the silo, Fermin takes the money to his bank where he’s duped by the bank manager, Alvarado (Luciano Cazaux), into putting it into a savings account rather than in a safety deposit box.

As it turns out the manager has inside information Argentina’s banking system is about to collapse and all savings accounts are to be frozen.  Even worse the manager lets friend and lawyer Manzi (Andres Parra) withdraw a fortune in U.S. dollars, including all the co-op’s money, from the bank the night before the collapse.

On discovering the money is gone a distraught Fermin is involved in a tragic car accident. After a long stay in hospital, he returns home where he’s looked after by his son Rodrigo (played by Chino Darín who in real life is Ricardo’s son).

The villagers eventually discover the truth about what’s happened the night before the banking collapse and that Manzi is hiding all the money he stole in a specially designed vault on a rural property.

Several of the original group and Rodrigo then hatch a rather complex plan to get their money back inspired by the old Hollywood movie How To Steal A Million.

What follows is a number of amusing scenes as Manzi desperately rushes to his property to ensure his hidden loot is safe.

Rodrigo also plays an important role in spying on Manzi’s activities under the guise of being an indoor plant specialist. Here he comes in contact with Manzi’s secretary, Florencia (Ailín Zaninovich).

Director Sebastián Borensztein ensures the movie, which is based on a novel by Eduardo Sacheri (who also wrote the hit The Secret In Their Eyes) features a number of close calls.  There are also some unexpected turns.

All the actors are very believable in their roles and their actions and reactions to the many challenges they face both before and during the heist are often very humorous.

While watching a movie about decent hard-working people being ripped off is never enjoyable, watching them seek their revenge certainly is!

Heroic Losers is being released in  Palace cinemas around Australian, with the exception of Victoria, on June 10.