Gritty stories of loss and redemption collide on Christmas Eve in Los Angeles, where a shy mortician (Eddie Redmayne) falls for a single-mom stripper (Jessica Biel), and a desperate ex-priest (Forest Whitaker) forges an unlikely bond with a transsexual prostitute (Alejandro Romero). The tightly woven ensemble drama also features gripping performances by Ray Liotta, Patrick Swayze, Lisa Kudrow and Kris Kristofferson.
Eva mendes começa a trabalhar num clube de strip p'ra poder pagar a conta do hospital do seu filho que está em coma. Entretanto aparece um padre suicida, um travesti que se prostitui p'ra ter dinheiro p'ra operaçoes plásticas, e um moço que trabalha numa morgue e faz espectaculos de marionetas nos tempos livres. Mas isto é tudo palha, à beira da cena em que a
Eva Mendes dança e queima o corpo com cera no strip club até desatar a chorar. Isto enquanto o seu futuro namorado está a ver e com a Cat Power a cantar uma música sobre lobisomens. Drama Gold.
Of course there are many films structured like this one, but this one steals too liberally from others (e.g., copying a scene almost verbatim from _Magnolia_, but with a twist!) This tries to deal with some serious (albeit conventional) topics--loss, despair, loneliness, regret, etc.--but provides such unconvincing characters that it is difficult to take seriously. Lisa Kudrow, however, is very good in this.
Criminally underrated. The performances may be over the top to some, but they worked for me. I was not bothered by its hyperlink style (read the Wikipedia article on hyperlink cinema). The performances are quite powerful, and the writing is very good.