Priceless (2016)

Written by Reno on July 13, 2017

Fighting for shouldn't always be on its worth. Knowing what's right and wrong's enough.

A good awareness film, but struggled to narrate what it wanted to say in a standard way like any average films does. It was about forced prostitution, especially for poor immigrants. It was the story of Antonia and Maria, the illegal Mexican immigrants, but told from James, a truck driver who recently lost his wife. Now the life worth living is for his daughter who has been taken by the childcare. But one day on his job, while delivering a cargo, he comes to know his commitment is wrong. At first not realising the depth of the issue, later he decides to fight for it, but it was too late, yet he never gives up.

Films like 'Taken', 'Trade', 'Eden', all are very similar to this. Each tells undigestable tales, which mostly based on the real like this one. Thematically, this film can be praised, but not all quite well in the screenplay. The first is, it was slightly religiously motivated. Yeah, I like morals from the religious aspect, especially when it is used to fight for good, not to promote the belief. I appreciate, it did not lean on that overall, except the characters designed that way. On the other hand, the performances were not up to laudable, especially the emotions parts lacked the feeling.

Since it was not entirely based on the real, but parts of various true events, the screenplay should have filled better with other contents. The opening and the final acts were good, though the middle section lacked the pace and the story event. So now you know what this film is about, and I think it is worth a watch, mainly for the message it carries. Interesting, this film turned into a book, which seems a good idea as it is more like that sort of portrayal than for a cinematic.

6/10