Bad Hombres (2024)

3 Stars (out of 4)

Flee Amigos

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

John Stalberg Jr.'s twisty, low-budget crime thriller Bad Hombres feels like a less-funny, second-tier sampling of Tarantino or Elmore Leonard, but it has brutal creativity and a high style that makes it vigorously riveting.

Felix (Diego Tinoco) arrives in the United States from Ecuador, hoping to earn some money for his family back home. On his very first day, he has an encounter with Donnie Boy (Luke Hemsworth), who hires him for a job on the condition that he has a truck. Felix finds Alfonso (Hemky Madera), a grizzled, foul-tempered old-timer — who does have a truck — and convinces him to take the job with him. They all drive out in the middle of nowhere and Felix and Alfonso are tasked with digging a large hole. A fourth man, "Horrible" Steve Hoskins (Paul Johansson), silently waits in the car.

Before long it becomes clear that the hole is meant for dumping dead bodies. Even stranger, it turns out that Alfonso is some kind of warrior who realizes that the dead bodies are members of a dangerous crime organization. Felix is shot in the leg, and they escape. While at a gas station, Felix discovers a stash of money under his seat cushion. But things are only just beginning, and the night has even crazier events in store.

Here as well as on his previous movie Muzzle, director Stalberg shows a strong sense of style, choosing unusual camera angles and long takes, sometimes leaving what would seem to be crucial information offscreen. As a result, the story of Bad Hombres never quite goes the way we think it's going to go. We get many different spots of color as well, including Luke Hemsworth's Donnie Boy chewing the scenery, babbling whatever nonsense happens to pop into his head, or a quiet moment when a veterinary doctor, who just fixed Felix's leg, urges him to give our country a chance: "there are some good people too." And there are beautiful matching opening and closing shots, with flashes of sunlight playing across Felix's face.

Additionally, Stalberg concentrates on the effects of sound, including the constant roar of barking dogs in the vet's office, or a broken car radio stuck on a shouting preacher. To be sure, Bad Hombres isn't quite A-list material, and there are problems of logic and rhythm — Rob (Thomas Jane) answering a phone that was broken a few minutes earlier, or Alfonso taking forever to drive back and forth between the vet and Rob's place, for example — but it's a highly effective tale of redemption and kindness in an otherwise crime-ridden world.