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Argentine director Eduard Cortes’ film “Atraco!” set in the mid-1950s follows the journey of two Argentine loyalists: Merello (Guillermo Francella), one of the most entrusted Argentine secret agents and a clueless aspiring actor, and Miguel (Nicolas  Cabre). These two men take on the instructions of Landa (Daniel Fanego) to retrieve an important item to the history of Argentina. The only catch of this journey is that the item that they’re looking for is in a whole different continent, as the prized possession is in the country of Spain: the deceased Eva Peron’s famous, luxurious jewelry that has been sold to a Spanish jeweler to finance former president of Argentina Domingo Peron’s exile in Panama.

Both men are trying to retrieve the jewelry before Peron finds out that his most prized possession, the jewelry of his deceased wife, has been sold against his wishes. In order for both Merello and Miguel to get into Spain, they’d have to assume a new name and nationality as they posed as Uruguayans to get access into Spain and pursue their assignment.  

Translated in English, “atraco” means “hold-up,” which is what both Merello and Miguel try to do in order to retrieve the possessed jewels. Both men stage and strategize a perfect robbery of a jewel store with the help of the store owner in an attempt to restore a prized Argentine possession back to original owner Peron. Everyone is expected to know of the robbery with the exception of the store workers.

In the process of strategizing the robbery, Miguel falls in love with a gorgeous nurse named Teresa (Amaia Salamanca). As the story unravels, both Miguel and Teresa begin to grow more fond of one another. As both Merello and Miguel approach the day of the robbery, there is a change of focus for Miguel as he becomes more focused with the relationship he now has with Teresa. This same commitment has fatal results on the day that both men have to rob the jewelry store as Miguel is more focused on robbing the store for something he wants to give Teresa than he is about robbing and retrieving his native country’s prized possession. As a result of Miguel’s lack of focus, Merello is fatally shot during the robbery and a chase begins to find the men behind the robbery as well as the reason for which they are currently in Spain.

The film has its moments of humor, especially in the relationship between Merello and Miguel. As an actor, Miguel is terrible at the profession he is trying to get into, which is best represented in the process of creating the robbery – he’s a young man trying to play a gimmick when he should be serious about the job he has to do in Spain.

Merello, the older of the two, is the voice of wisdom as well as the man-power behind the hold-up in the jewelry store. Merello is also a big reason for the Argentine humor represented throughout the film with his interactions of Argentine nationalism toward his Spanish foes.

“΍Atraco!” is staged as a contemporary film-noir as both Merello and Miguel assume the roles of secret agents on a mission to retrieve their boss’ belongings. This film could’ve easily been in black and white and would’ve still had the same effectiveness on its viewers. This film is an Argentine/Spanish film with a Hollywood feel to it and its acting as well as storyline should be great reasons for why people should see this film if they haven’t already.

One of the most interesting things about this film is how the story behind it has been an unknown footnote to something that transpired in Argentine and Spanish history. In its dark moments, the possession of Eva Peron’s jewelry was able to empower Domingo Peron, a man who was once in charge of much of Argentina’s progress. Although Domingo Peron is giving all the commands within the film, he is never presented in the film or interacts with any of the characters onscreen, which makes this film very intriguing.

The acting and script of this film make it a front-runner to win many awards in Latin America as well as the United States. This film represents the grandeur of Latin American cinema and personifies the nationalistic identity behind Latino films. There shouldn’t be a hold-up or anything stopping you from watching this film.