Inarritu’s ‘Amores Perros’ a powerful film

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In theaters

AMORES PERROS. 153 minutes, R, directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, written by Guillermo Arriaga. In Spanish with English subtitles.

In Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s unforgettable film, “Amores Perros,” the Mexican-born Inarritu, working from a screenplay by novelist Guillermo Arriaga, channels two men – the Spanish director Luis Bunuel and Quentin Tarantino, whose inescapable influence continues to grow in the years since his groundbreaking films, “Reservoir Dogs” and “Pulp Fiction.”

But in his Academy Award-nominated debut (which lost to Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”), Inarritu ultimately proves he’s his own man, a gifted director who presents a harrowing, powerful and often disturbing movie about three seemingly unrelated stories that collide after one horrific car accident in Mexico City.

Loosely translated, the film’s title means “Love’s a Bitch,” which is fitting since the film finds its emotional core in its characters’ close relationships with their dogs.

Beginning his film with a disclaimer that suggests no dogs were harmed during the filming of his movie (something that’s often impossible to believe), Inarritu sinks us almost immediately into the violent underworld of dog fights with the story of Octavio (Gael Garcia Bernal) and his sister-in-law Susana (Vanessa Bauche), whose sexual attraction becomes their undoing.

As Inarritu shows in one of his film’s several flashbacks, it’s Octavio, on the run from a man who tried to murder his dog, Cofi, whose reckless driving is the cause of the film’s opening car wreck.

The woman he hits, Valeria (Goya Toledo), becomes the source for the film’s second act, “Daniel and Valeria,” in which Valeria, a leggy model, not only must suffer the physical ramifications of the car accident and the loss of her modeling job, but also the disappearance of her treasured dog and the gradual decline of her relationship with Daniel (Alvaro Guerrero), on which she’s staked everything.

Fans of Bunuel’s 1970 film, “Tristana,” will see Bunuel’s influence all over this story, but Inarritu nevertheless makes it his own as he eventually connects it to the film’s final act, “El Chivo and Maru.” Here, Inarritu follows a terrorist (Emilio Echevarria) tied to the previous two stories in ways that ultimately prove emotionally devastating.

Marked by its outstanding performances and its superb direction, “Amores Perros” never comments on the build-up of horror and desperation it presents on- screen; instead, it just observes. That decision lifts the film, for sure, but what makes it linger in the mind so long after the final reel has played is the sense of fragility and sadness that underscores everything.

Inarritu’s world is a place that’s just barely being held together, but the catch here is that nobody can figure out how to keep it from falling apart.

Grade: A

On Video and DVD

WHAT WOMEN WANT. 110 minutes, PG-13, directed by Nancy Meyers, written by Josh Goldsmith, Cathy Yuspa and Diane Drake.

“What Women Want” stars Mel Gibson as Nick Marshall, a super-successful, hypermasculine Chicago advertising executive raised not by wolves, but by other, more curious beasts – Vegas strippers.

For anyone familiar with Gibson’s career, that little tidbit probably won’t come as a surprise (the actor has never been too far from a handful of silicone). But what might surprise some is how easily Gibson has shucked the rough husk of his former self in favor of a role that demands he try on hosiery, nail polish and mascara – all while slathering his hairy shins with leg wax.

The film, as directed by Nancy Myers, is formulaic, slight and predictable, but it’s nevertheless fun. What makes it so enjoyable is Gibson’s performance as Marshall, a man’s man who starts to hear what women think after being electrocuted in a bathtub filled with women’s products.

Initially, all of this listening is a surprising hardship for Nick; indeed, caught in a sudden sea of estrogen, his masculinity begins to drown. But not so fast; enter Darcy Maguire (Helen Hunt), a woman hired by Nick’s boss, Dan (Alan Alda), to corner the multibillion-dollar women’s advertising market, and suddenly Nick’s superego sees a ray of light. If he can somehow eavesdrop on Darcy’s thoughts and ideas in an effort to steal a major account away from her, he’ll get a coveted promotion. If, on the other hand, he’ll also have to listen to Darcy’s most personal thoughts and insecurities, so be it. Certainly he, of all people, is man enough to listen to a woman’s innermost problems, hopes and dreams – right?

Recalling “Tootsie,” “Junior” and especially the 1961 Rock Hudson-Doris Day film, “Lover Come Back,” which also swirled around a couple competing in the world of advertising, “What Women Want” is a good comedy buoyed by the chemistry of its cast.

Grade: B

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays in Style, Thursdays in the scene, Tuesdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5” and Thursdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5:30” on WLBZ-2 and WCSH-6. He can be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com.

THE VIDEO CORNER

Renting a video? NEWS film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores.

Duets ? D

Quills ?B

What Women Want ? B

Yi Yi ? A

All the Pretty Horses ? C-

Miss Congeniality ? B

The Emperor’s New Groove ? A-

Little Nicky ? F

One Day in September ? B+