Torrente, el brazo tonto de la ley (1998)

Santiago Segura has crafted a hyperbolical picture of a delirious cop. He is the creator of Torrente, a loser who wants to gain respectability. The movie is plenty of memorable gags and the dialogs are really incredible. It can be disgusting for people who act and think politically correct, because Santiago Segura shows, with cunning humor, the worst of the present society. This is a movie to see with an open mind. Don't take seriously the exaggerated cliches, and enjoy the film!

Fmovies: First entry in ¨Torrente series¨ starred by the most grotesque detective and well played by Santiago Segura, he is a real private dick , a poster child for police corruption . Featuring politically incorrect private detective Torrente (Santiago Segura) , he is a macho man , lazy , rude , drunkard , Athletic fan , caring only about protecting and serving himself , here he fights against the oriental mafia in Madrid and patrolling the city looking for delinquents . Despite that, he still manages to get the job done . Torrente follows the exploits of Jose Luis Torrente , a Bad Santa of the police force , a peculiar and fatty man , being a ¨El Fari¨ fan . Torrente was rejected from police duty and he has returned to private investigation . He lives in a rotten flat with his wheelchair-bound daddy (Tony Leblanc) , whom he treats quite badly and wipes out of the money he had gained in begging . One day, in his decrepit slum appears a new family of neighbours move in , and the gorgeous young , Amparito (Neus Asensi) , catches his eye . Cheesy Torrente becomes a good friend Rafi (Javier Camera) , to get closer to her . Rafi is a naive young who loves action movies , guns and imitates Robert De Niro's Taxi driver . Later on , the botcher dirty private eye , being helped by Rafi, her nerdy neighbour and a group of geeks , all of them attempt to detain the local Mafia . In one of his cases he discovers the illegalities and irregularities of a powerful drug lord (Espartaco Santoni) and gets involved in the middle of a nasty's plot to introduce lots of drug in the city . As we find our anti-hero in a delicate situation but he can count on to help him some people , as Rafi and his equally geek friends ; one of them results to be a Karate man , Bruce Lee/Mark Dacascos enthusiast , using Shuriken and other Ninja weapons .

This is 1º installment in Torrente series . These films are made to entertain , and this movie , especially for a good time and a nice entertainment . "Torrente" is a passable and unapologetic dark comedy with great special effects , it has several funny and hilarious scenes and quite successful action scenes with persecution , car crashes and many other things . The picture contains thrills , noisy action , tongue-in-cheek , grotesque situations and above all , humor . Although there are also nudism , bad-mouthed language , bad taste jokes and profanities . Torrente 2 is written, directed, produced and stars Segura, whose production house Amiguetes Entertainment produced the film , UIP holds Spanish distribution rights . The screenplay is absurd as well as crazy , just what makes laugh a lot , that the character "Torrente" a very slutty , clumsy , sexist , Machista , extreme-right-wing , on a real person is despicable , being not adequate , but this is a film that satirizes all this and that just means he's a pathetic character , though he also has his unsettling charms . Here Torrente discovers that a band of drug traffickers are operating in a nearby Chinese restaurant and along the way , he falls in love for sexy Neus Asensi . This first Torrente, which set box office records in its day, took $707,000 and Torrente 2 grossed more than €22 million in 2001 . The film contains many cameos of famous people, familiar faces such as Javier Bardem , Carlos Bardem , Chus Lampreave , Tony Leblanc , Antonio De La Torre , Luis Manquiña , Espartaco Santoni , El Gran Wyoming , Daniel Monzón , Mariola Fuentes , Pablo Carbonell , Manuel Tafalle , Luis Cuenca ,among others . The cameos are very am

Same review applies to the entire series of the first four Torrente films--they are very similar in concept and execution, and I binge- watched them all because I liked them so much. I think that this is real love it or hate it stuff, and God I love it.

I'm guessing 7 out of 10 people won't appreciate this material at all, while the other 3 who are a bit twisted like me won't be able to get enough. It helps to have some knowledge of European culture and politics, but it's not essential--a well-honed appreciation of outstanding low-brow humor is sorely needed though.

Yes, all the films are Spanish subtitled in English, but in very easy to read yellow lettering so it's no big deal at all. Most women I'm guessing will be turned off by these flicks. It's best to watch them in order.

They play like the work of some deranged, Spanish genius, love-child of Mad Magazine and National Lampoon hopped-up on steroids, testosterone, tons of junk food, pornography, and some ungodly mix of alcohol and illegal drugs. These satires are rude, crude, lewd, insensitive, offensive, amoral, sexist, racist, homophobic, grossly politically incorrect and hilarious (with likely no socially redeeming value). What more could you ask for?

If this kind of material doesn't appeal to you, steer clear; otherwise, bon appetit. As for me, all I can say is, "Please, Sir, I want some more." (I've just noticed that number 5 has been made, and I'm dying to see it.)

Torrente, el brazo tonto de la ley fmovies. A bull's eye. A sarcastic rock-bottom insight into the worst of Franco's inheritance. It's like a Quijote of modern Spain. As its director commented himself `All Spaniards have a Torrente inside, the more vigorous that Torrente is, the worst we are'. Just those who fear their inner Torrente won't take advantage of this therapeutic movie.

The best comedy ever made in Spain. Every Santiago Segura fan will enjoy it. Maybe you'll miss a few details if you're not related with Spanish society and culture because the movie is an ironic critic to the old-fashioned fascists that still live in Spain, people who still adore Francisco Franco and similar freaks. If you have an open mind and want to laugh hysterically don't miss it

Being Spanish as I am I find this movie amazingly funny (i've watched it a million times :P). But I must admit it might not be as funny for everyone, if you're not Spanish you'll probably find it quite stupid and boring, why? Because many of the jokes are referred to things everyone in Spain knows about but people from other parts of the world don't, some of the characters are quite... infamous in Spain and that makes them funny... and many other details as these. Torrente is something of a Spanish Homer Simpson / Peter Griffin, and everyone finds those characters funny because everyone knows quite a lot about the US and American celebrities, but with Spain... I'd say not.