Amores Perros (2001)
95%RT Audience Score: 94%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 Oscar
55 wins & 25 nominations total
The brutality of Amores Perros may be difficult to watch at times, but this intense, gritty film packs a hard wallop.
Love’s a Bitch” is a Mexican drama that’s been around for a while, but it’s still worth watching. Critics have called it everything from “solidly engaging” to “brutal but worthy.” Some say it’s derivative of Tarantino, but hey, who isn’t these days? The soundtrack is killer, and the non-linear story is well-constructed. It’s a story of power, poverty, love, and guilt, and it’s oddly uplifting despite its relentless bleakness. Plus, it’s got a cast of unknown actors who more than meet the standards of Hollywood venismo. So, if you’re in the mood for a bit of bonecrunching savagery with a fundamentally moral message, give “Love’s a Bitch” a shot.
Production Company(ies)
Altavista Films, Zeta Film
Distributor
Lionsgate Films
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Colonia Condesa, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for violence/gore, language and sexuality
Year of Release
2001
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:2h 33m
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Language(s):Spanish
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Country of origin:Mexico
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Apr 13, 2000 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 25, 2001
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Emilio Echevarría, Gael García Bernal, Goya Toledo, Álvaro Guerrero, Vanessa Bauche, Jorge Salinas, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, written by Guillermo Arriaga, drama, R rating, box office gross $5.4M, Lionsgate Films, reviewed by Barbara Scharres, David Ansen, Andrew Sarris, Geoff Andrew, Manohla Dargis, Rick Groen, Rosa Parra, Matt Brunson, Federico Furzan, B Ruby Rich, Michael Wood, intersecting narratives, Mexico City, car crash, triptych, dog named Cofi, intense, emotional, gritty, brutal, lives collide, destiny, social-political narratives, power, poverty, love, guilt, Dolby SR, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Surround, Flat (1.85:1)
Worldwide gross: $20,908,467
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $35,236,798
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,494
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 3,842,617
US/Canada gross: $5,408,467
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $9,114,827
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,639
US/Canada opening weekend: $61,047
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $102,882
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,920
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $2,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $3,370,577
Production budget ranking: 1,964
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $1,815,056
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $30,051,165
ROI to date (est.): 580%
ROI ranking: 222
Gael García Bernal – Octavio
Goya Toledo – Valeria Maya
Álvaro Guerrero – Daniel
Vanessa Bauche – Susana
Jorge Salinas – Luis
Director(s)
Alejandro González Iñárritu
Writer(s)
Guillermo Arriaga
Producer(s)
Alejandro González Iñárritu
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 Oscar
55 wins & 25 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (120) | Top Critics (41) | Fresh (111) | Rotten (9)
Solidly engaging, supersized 2000 Mexican drama.
February 8, 2008
Barbara Scharres
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
On screen, Gonzalez Inarritu’s alarm registers loud and clear.
November 1, 2007
David Ansen
Newsweek
TOP CRITIC
One of the most honored and most expertly articulated Mexican films of recent years.
April 27, 2007
Andrew Sarris
Observer
TOP CRITIC
Recalling Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction – but edgier than both – this is a hell of a first film. For all its bonecrunching savagery, it’s also a fundamentally moral work.
February 9, 2006
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
It’s good and good-looking and features one of the best soundtracks in years … but it’s also slick and schematic, weak on feeling and overly indebted to Tarantino.
October 29, 2002
Manohla Dargis
L.A. Weekly
TOP CRITIC
Inarritu’s talent may be derivative, but it’s applied to a setting he knows well and whose vibrancy he’s keen to convey.
March 19, 2002 | Rating: 3/4
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail
TOP CRITIC
It’s mindboggling to realize this film is Inarritu’s directorial debut. A well-constructed non-linear story that unfolds effectively highlighting social-political narratives.
May 22, 2021 | Rating: 4.5/5
Rosa Parra
Latinx Lens
A brutal but worthy motion picture.
January 16, 2021 | Rating: 3/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
A debut in the industry that feels relevant after all these years. This is an epic story of power, poverty, love and guilt. [Full review in Spanish].
April 9, 2020 | Rating: 3/4
Federico Furzan
Cinelipsis
It’s a breath of fresh air in an industry more accustomed to older narrative and pictorial styles.
February 25, 2020
B. Ruby Rich
The Nation
Very few films create, as this one succeeds in doing, a fresh and individual sense of a complete world, and allow us to experience this sense as if it were our own.
August 20, 2018
Michael Wood
The New York Review of Books
[Inarritu’s] triumph – helped by a cast of unknown actors who more than meet the standards of Hollywood venismo – is to give so lurid a sequence of events the force of reality; and make a story of relentless bleakness, oddly uplifting.
January 25, 2018
Mark Steyn
The Spectator…
Plot
On the brink of the new Millennium in the bustling City of Mexico, one horrible car accident intertwines inextricably the lives of three perfect strangers. Octavio, a rebellious adolescent who is secretly in love with his sister-in-law, dreams of escaping his miserable life, and for this reason, he enters reluctantly the obscure world of dog fighting with his lethal dog Cofi. And then unexpectedly, Valeria, a stunning woman and famous supermodel, will cross paths with Octavio, while in the meantime, her pampered little dog Richie manages to vanish into thin air in the confined space of her apartment. Lastly, Chivo, an ex-guerrilla vagabond, after abandoning his little daughter, unable to make up for lost time, he channels his love to the city’s strays and a mortally wounded Rottweiler. In the end, even though all the weary characters, men and beasts, wish for a bright future, in this life-changing journey in the pursuit of love, sometimes infidelity, sin and death can get in the way.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
No goofy or funny or odd comments were found on Fresh Kernels for the film Love’s a Bitch.
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