Sin Nombre features two lives meeting by chance on a train with more in common than they think. Willy, aka El Casper (Édgar Flores), is part of La Mara, one of a number of Mexican gangs with egos bigger than their brain cells, always out to kill "chavalas", aka their rivals, and stop them from intruding on their turf. Early on, we see him indoctrinating a young lad, Smiley (Kristian Ferrer) into the gang by taking him to the leader so he can shoot his first chavala, which will get him in with the in-crowd. That said, Casper has his issues with them - not least because their leader, Lil Mago (Tenoch Huerta, below-right with 'Casper'), tried to rape his girlfriend, but also because he's deeply unpleasant in lots of ways, including jumping the immigrant train out of Mexico and stealing off those trying to escape for a better life. Casper, himself, escapes from the leader in a way you'll have to watch the film to find out, but which causes the gang to start coming for him. Either way, he wants out. Out of the gang and out of Mexico. Someone else who wants out of Mexico is Sayra (Paulina Gaitan, right with 'Casper'), who's trying to escape to New Jersey with her family. Their lives cross in a way which, to reveal here, would be a big spoiler, but from that it turns into a road movie. Will Sayra and her family get to their destination? Will Casper manage to get away from his pursuers? Well, I won't say, obviously, but I was very disappointed with this film. There didn't seem to be a massive amount of story to it, other than boy and girl meet in bizarre circumstances and the minutae of what happens to them which has a threadbare storyline, so in the end I just did not care.

Presented in the original 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen ratio, you do get a very colourful crisp and clear picture so you can be sure that if you are a fan of this movie and are looking for the best picture possible, this disc will not let you down. For the record, I'm watching on a Panasonic 37" Plasma screen via a Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray player. As for the sound, this this in Dolby True HD, or DTS 5.1 for those, like me, without the full technical dohickey. It's perfectly fine for music and dialogue, but nothing out of the ordinary. The scant extras are as follows: Deleted and Extended Scenes (10:42): 13 of them, presented in letterbox 2.35:1. They fill in a few gaps but there aren't many worthy of inclusion back into the main film. Audio commentary: from director/writer Cary Fukunaga and producer Amy Kaufman. The menu mixes a clips from the film with a short piece of music from the film playing over and over. There are English subtitles but the chaptering is appalling with just 12 over the 102-minute running time.

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Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2010.

As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B 37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.

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