What? Wretched are the poor?

Rating: 5/10 (3 February 2003)

You wouldn't think anyone would get away with exploiting the suffering of children. Here it is bordering on the obscene. No one would question Fernando Meirelles' talent. He seems to have an abundance of it. So much that it gets in the way of his subject. Over and over we get, "Watch what I can do with a camera or in the editing room!" It's exhausting.

Through the blur we see the most deprived behavior that we're only invited to laugh at, wince over or look away from. I felt like I was watching some film student's final project where literally every trick in the book was dumped on the screen...albeit a very talented film student.