Tony Manero (2008)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Carlos M

  
  Chile's official submission to the 2009 Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film is an interesting, compelling study of a miserable sociopath, relying on a gripping performance by Alfredo Castro and making some subtle political comments.

• Anthony L

  
  A cross between Man Bites Dog, The King of Comedy and Scarface but no where near as good as either. Alfredo Castro is brilliant as Raúl Peralta, a man obsessed with becoming Tony Manero in 1978's Chile during Pinochets dictatorship, the gritty violence and pure terror is there… More
  A cross between Man Bites Dog, The King of Comedy and Scarface but no where near as good as either. Alfredo Castro is brilliant as Raúl Peralta, a man obsessed with becoming Tony Manero in 1978's Chile during Pinochets dictatorship, the gritty violence and pure terror is there but only in blink and you'll miss it slices, the rest of the time I'm afraid is just not piratically entertaining and I was left feeling pretty disappointed as I'd been looking forward to this one since it's release. It's still well worth a watch though!

• Gordon A

  
  Riveting near mute central performance drives along this dark tale of obsession. Reading the central character's face and hoping things won't go as badly as you fear offer intrigue, and watching the final showdown is unbearably tense. An unheralded treat for those who like… More
  Riveting near mute central performance drives along this dark tale of obsession. Reading the central character's face and hoping things won't go as badly as you fear offer intrigue, and watching the final showdown is unbearably tense. An unheralded treat for those who like their cinema dark and disturbing.

• Luke B

  
  Tony Manero is Chilean Psycho. It's a terrifying drama, social commentary and a sports movie rolled together. Alfredo Castro gives a perfomance to remember as a murderous superfan of Saturday Night Fever. He watches the film religiously and practices the dance moves relentlessly.… More
  Tony Manero is Chilean Psycho. It's a terrifying drama, social commentary and a sports movie rolled together. Alfredo Castro gives a perfomance to remember as a murderous superfan of Saturday Night Fever. He watches the film religiously and practices the dance moves relentlessly. All this in hopes of being crowned the Chilean Tony Manero. Along the way he jumps his many hurdles by performing acts of murder. These are shot in a very matter of fact way. No nondigetic music to build the tension, just pure and brutal. It's a grim film and one that plays with the conventions of sporting dramas. Despite his deplorable nature, I couldn't help but cheer him on. The film also has a wonderful sense of humour. In a single shot, as Castro enters the cinema to see that Grease has taken the place of his favourite film, we are treated to a sudden sense of sadness for Castro, which is also hilarious and chilling. Hilarious because of his reaction to the film playing and chilling as we contemplate what he will do next. A beautiful disfigured film.

• Walter M

  
  Raul(Alfredo Castro) is a week early for the Tony Manero look-alike contest at the television studio because this week they are doing Chuck Norris. That's not the only sympton of his obsession as he also goes to see "Saturday Night Fever" every chance he can, plus… More
  Raul(Alfredo Castro) is a week early for the Tony Manero look-alike contest at the television studio because this week they are doing Chuck Norris. That's not the only sympton of his obsession as he also goes to see "Saturday Night Fever" every chance he can, plus putting on a show based on the movie. First, he needs a dance floor and even after finding the right material, he needs money. Otherwise, Raul watches an old woman get mugged, helps her home with her groceries, kills her, smokes a cigarette to calm his nerves, feeds the cat and steals her color television set. "Tony Manero" is a disturbing and sexually graphic character study. Raul is so single-minded(Which works against itself since it is difficult to gauge some of the other relationships in the movie at times) that he does not take notice of anything outside of his goal in Chile in 1980 where the police pay more attention to politics than actual crime. Despite Raul's psychosis and his appearing closer to a late model Al Pacino than a young John Travolta, he looks up to and identifies with Tony Manero, in seeing somebody who tries to escape his life of drudgery through dance.(If Raul is angry at "Grease," I don't want to think about how he would react to some of John Travolta's later movies.) In fact, "Tony Manero" and "Saturday Night Fever" both are similar in their critical attitudes about racism.