John Malkovich's directorial debut casts Javier Bardem as Agustin Rejas, a cop in an unidentified South American country trying to find members of a revolutionary movement (which seems to have been based on the Shining Path). More than simply a good-cop-versus-bad-guys story, "The Dancer Upstairs" shows how Rejas understands his job, but has to deal with corruption, intrigue, and other things. One might say that Rejas sort of becomes as revolutionary as the people whom he's seeking, given how he comes to question the legitimacy of everyone and everything around him. Or maybe I'm going too far in analyzing this movie. It's worth seeing, if only once. Also starring Juan Diego Botto and Laura Morante.

It's Latin America in the Recent Past. Agustín Rejas (Javier Bardem) is a Sergeant manning a road check. The country is corrupt with a militaristic Presidency. Rejas is a former lawyer ready for a promotion in the capital. A mysterious man with others and a dead dog in a truck escape the checkpoint. Then it's five years later. He's a police Lieutenant. With his young partner Sucre (Juan Diego Botto),he's investigating a mysterious revolutionary group led by Ezequiel. They hang dogs from the lamp posts. The violence escalates as leaders get assassinated. Yolanda (Laura Morante) is Rejas' daughter Laura's dance teacher. He begins an affair with her as he suspects her connection to Ezequiel.

The non-specificity of the time and place could have been improved by weaving the real story into this movie. It doesn't have to be perfect and most movies aren't real biographies anyways. The great aspect of this is Bardem and the sense of Latin America that this projects. John Malkovich is directing for the first time and he shows some competency. It is well-made and most importantly, he focuses on Bardem. The story does leave some questions. The ballet teacher's connections to everyone is very convenient. The investigation is not that clear. I don't know how nebulous the book is but adapting may have left something out of the movie. It would help to have great clarity, and better intensity.

The movie centers upon investigations to find a terrorist brain . The starring is Javier Bardem who makes an excellent interpretation , the support cast is good : Juan Diego Botto, Elvira Minguez ,Natalia Dicenta , among others .

The yarn talks about Alberto Fujimori and his time . In 1990 is elected President of Peru. In 1992 carried out a state's coup and he ruled over steadily , fought against the terror and vanquished ¨Sendero Luminoso¨ terrorists and imprisoned to the chiefs . In 2000 he runs away to Japan framed of corruption as his assistant Montesinos . The flick specially deals with difficulty to discover the black hand to run the awful murders mostly placed on Ayacucho.

In the film there are thriller , drama, action , suspense , love , but is a little bit boring . Direction by John Malkovich is slow-moving , Alberto Iglesias's music is nice but downbeat , Jose Luis Alcaine's cinematography is good . John Malkovich is better acting than filming.

Rating : 6/10 average .