Trade

STARRING: Kevin Kline View Trailer RELEASE DATE: 9/28/2007 DATE SCREENED: 9/19/2007 The Verdict Good - See this in the theater

Trade is based on a 2004 New York Times Magazine cover story about worldwide sex trafficking. Definitely not the kind of subject Hollywood would want to touch, so this movie ended up being financed independently with German funds. Thanks to a successful premiere at Sundance, the film is getting a national release.

In Mexico City, a 13 year old Mexican girl named Adriana is kidnapped after sneaking out early one morning to ride her bike. Her 17 year old brother Jorge, who makes his living robbing unsuspecting male tourists looking for prostitutes, finds out about the kidnapping and is determined to save her. He discovers that a Russian gang has been kidnapping girls and taking them to NJ to sell them to pedophiles over the Internet. We then follow Jorge and Adriana, on their separate journeys to NJ. Adriana is being held with another girl, woman, and boy. One Mexican kidnapper sneaks them over the border, and once there an American helps get them to Jersey. Along the way they are drugged, abused, and their “services” are sold for traveling expenses.

Jorge crosses the border illegally in the trunk of the car of a federal insurance fraud investigator named Ray, played by the only recognizable actor in the film, Kevin Kline. Ray was investigating the same house that Jorge discovered was used by the kidnappers while in Mexico City. Once in Texas, Ray realizes he has a stowaway. He wants to take Jorge to the police, but Jorge is able to convince him that he has to get to NJ to save his sister. It turns out that Ray was in Mexico City on his personal time, in search of his lost daughter. He had a child outside of his marriage while in Mexico many years ago. He only recently found out that the mother sold his daughter, and he has been looking for her ever since. Ray knows it’s too late to help his daughter, but it’s not too late to help Adriana. Everyone ends up in an unnamed city in NJ, where it becomes a race against time to save Adriana before she is sold in an Internet auction. The police won’t help, as they are willing to sacrifice these Mexican girls until they can gather evidence against the ringleaders. It’s up to Jorge and Ray to handle things themselves.

Trade pulled me in from the very beginning. Being that I had never read the NY Times article, I had no idea this kind of sex trafficking was going on between Mexico and the U.S. This film not only has a message about how this type of thing has to be stopped, but is also entertaining as well. You grow to care about all the characters and really root for them. Adriana bonds with another kidnapped woman named Veronica. The things that they have to go through are horrible, and they do have a chance to escape. It’s heartbreaking when they are recaptured by the kidnappers. As the Internet auction got under way, I felt all the tension involved as Jorge and Ray had to execute their rescue plan. It’s easy to see why this film did well enough at Sundance to warrant a national release. Both of the young actors who played Adrianna and Jorge (Paulina Gaitan & Cesar Ramos) did a great job and have bright futures ahead of them. The film is 2 hours long, but doesn’t feel like it. The kidnapping happens right away, and there is always something going on during each person’s journey. I was completely engrossed the entire time. Definitely see this one in the theater. Much of the film is in Spanish, with English subtitles, but don’t let that scare you off.