thesis on a homicide rotten tomatoes

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Thesis on a Homicide

Roberto Bermudez, a specialist in criminal law, is convinced that one of his students committed a brutal murder. It leads him to start an investigation that becomes his obsession. Roberto Bermudez, a specialist in criminal law, is convinced that one of his students committed a brutal murder. It leads him to start an investigation that becomes his obsession. Roberto Bermudez, a specialist in criminal law, is convinced that one of his students committed a brutal murder. It leads him to start an investigation that becomes his obsession.

• Hernán Goldfrid
• Diego Paszkowski
• Patricio Vega
• Ricardo Darín
• Natalia Santiago
• Alberto Ammann
• 15 User reviews
• 27 Critic reviews
• 18 nominations

• Roberto Bermúdez
• Maia Weistein

• Gonzalo Ruiz Cordera
• Laura Di Natale

• Alfredo Hernández
• Mario Passalaqua

• Valeria Di Natale

• Moza amiga Laura
• (as Mariana Soledad Gimenez)
• (as Gabriel Ferández)
• Asistente Fiscal
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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User reviews 15

• norbertosica
• Jan 19, 2013
• How long is Thesis on a Homicide? Powered by Alexa
• January 17, 2013 (Argentina)
• Official Facebook
• Official site (Spain)
• Cinayet tezi
• Buenos Aires, Federal District, Argentina
• Haddock Films
• Instituto Nacional de Cine y Artes Audiovisuales (INCAA)
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 46 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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Thesis on a homicide: film review.

Hernan Goldrid's cat-and-mouse thriller revolves around a law professor investigating a murder on campus.

By Jonathan Holland

Jonathan Holland

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Thesis on a Homicide - H 2013

Theory and practice become hopelessly confused for the law teacher protagonist of Thesis on a Homicide . The film echoes Juan Jose Campanella ’s Oscar-winning The Secret in their Eyes in that it’s from the same production house and features Ricardo Darin as a slightly over the hill former lawyer investigating a young woman’s murder, but the resemblances stop there. Thought-provoking but lacking the emotional punch to make it memorable, Argentinian Hernan Goldfrid ’s follow-up to his 2009 screwball debut Music on Hold did great business at home and has held solid in Spain following its April release, with the flaws in “Thesis” unlikely to keep Darin’s offshore fanbase from buying into it.

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Roberto Bermudez (Darin) is teaching a course attended by, among others, Spaniard Gonzalo Ruiz Cordera ( Alberto Ammann , best-known outside Spain for Cell 211 ). Bermudez’s confidence is rattled by the confident, well-scrubbed young man, whose utterances consist of carefully polished, faux-philosophical abstractions about the differences between justice and the law which are at odds with Bermudez’s own theories.

The Bottom Line  An intelligent but undynamic psychological thriller that delivers more psychology than thrills.

When a murdered girl is discovered on campus, Bermudez’s initial dislike of Gonzalo becomes suspicion: one of the film’s more interesting notions is that the murder may have been carried out as a practical demonstration of Gonzalo’s ideas. The stage is set for a Rope -style battle of wits between master and acolyte – with the twist that this particular battle of wits may all be taking place inside Bermudez’s increasingly addled head. Viewers seeking a nicely tied-up ending will be left frustrated at the endless ambiguities generated by this approach.

Bermudez embarks on a campaign to prove that Gonzalo is the killer. Unconcerned by old professional friends’ opinions that he’s getting out of his depth, the prof starts to make out-there connections to demonstrate his thesis. For example, he links the fact that Gonzalo has used a butterfly metaphor to the fact that the dead girl was wearing a butterfly neckchain. He also befriends the victim’s heartbroken younger sister, Laura ( Calu Rivero ), but can only look on helplessly across a generation as Laura and Gonzalo get close.

Thesis is at its most exciting whilst showing Bermudez bringing his intelligence to bear on the apparently trivial. Rarely can a scene at a supermarket checkout desk, with the audience breathlessly waiting for the right figure to tally up, be so tense.

The film is always efficient but rarely so dazzling. Most of its plus points are due to the unshowy but ever-intense Darin, who has come, via a series of memorable performances in films such as Eyes and Nine Queens , to define an era in Argentinean film. Luckily for the script, Darin is engrossing even when he’s just mulling things over from behind his heavy-lidded, heavily-bagged eyes – which he does a lot here. But neither the over-brisk treatment of Bermudez’s psychology – fleeting reference is made to an old investigation, which ended unhappily for him – and the fact that he spends a lot of time at the gym, hitting a punch bag – a wearily derivative way of revealing his pent-up anger – add much. Neither does d.p. Rodrigo Pulpeiro ’s tendency to bring in woozy soft focus to show Bermudez’s regular alcoholic hazes.

The smoothness and angularity of Amman’s features and delivery position him nicely between the earnest-but-pleasant and the crimimal aesthete, but the script doesn’t allow him to develop any inner life: chemistry is thus lacking both in the Bermudez/Gonzalo exchanges and, perhaps even more gravely, in those between Bermudez and Laura. It all adds up to an emotional hole in the middle of a film which, as its title suggests, is too much about the head, too little about the heart.

Venue: Cines Princesa, Madrid, May 8 Production companies: Tornasol Films, BD Cine, Castafiore Films, Haddock. Cast: Ricardo Darin, Alberto Ammann, Calu Rivero, Arturo Puig, Fabian Arenillas, Mara Bestelli Director: Hernan Goldfrid Screenwriter: Patricio Vega Producers: Gerardo Herrero, Diego Dubcovsky Executive producers: Mariela Besuievsky, Jimena Blanco, Daniel Burman Director of photography: Rodrigo Pulpeiro Production designer: Mariela Ripodas Music: Sergio Moure Costume designer: Cristina Rodriguez Editor: Pablo Barbieri

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Thesis on a Homicide

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Tesis sobre un homicidio (Thesis on a Homicide)

Released: 2013

• composer Sergio Moure
• director Hernan Golfrid

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Released: April 8, 2013

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Netflix has added a true story comedy movie about a hit man and it's got a 97% score on Rotten Tomatoes

Netflix has added a film about a hit man with a near-perfect rotten tomatoes score although all is not quite as it seems.

Poppy Bilderbeck

A film based on a true story has achieved a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score and it's just been added to Netflix.

If you'd already sped your way through the second season of a 'brutal' Irish crime drama which landed on the streaming service, alongside a series which left viewers 'too scared to sleep' then how about a comedy about a hit man based on a real person to lighten the mood a bit?

Granted, it seems a bit peculiar to make a comedy about a hitman, however, all is not quite as it seems.

The 2023 release - titled Hit Man - was produced and directed by Richard Linklater - best known for hits such as School of Rock and Boyhood - and stars the likes of Glen Powell ( Top Gun: Maverick), Adria Arjona ( Andor) and Retta ( Parks and Recreation).

The film focuses on the character of a man named Gary Johnson, a college professor and technology whizz who ends up pretending to be a hitman.

Why? Well, so he can catch people out who are trying to actually hire a hitman.

And the character is actually based on a real life person too.

The Netflix film is loosely based on the true story of man of the same name - Gary Johnson.

In the 1980s and 90s, the real Johnson indeed posted as a hit man for the Houston police.

A 2001 Texas Monthly article written by Skip Hollandsworth detailed Johnson's incredible story, branding him the 'Lawrence Olivier' of fake police hit men. Both Linklater and Powell ended up stumbling across it, Linklater telling UNILAD they must've discovered it '19 years apart, maybe 20'.

And it hasn't taken long for viewers to be captivated by the story too since it was released onto Netflix earlier today (7 June).

Hit Man has achieved an exciting Rotten Tomatoes' tomatometer score of 97 percent, alongside an audience score of 95 which one social media user noted is 'well deserved'.

And it's not taken long for the love of the comedy to spill over onto X too.

One user wrote: "I just finished it, this role must’ve been so much fun to film for Glen Powell. He absolutely KILLED IT. (Well, I guess not 'Kill.')."

"I woke up this morning and while I was getting ready I remembered Hit Man came out on Netflix, so I threw it on and wound up watching the first 30 minutes again. Richard Linklater and Glen Powell wrote a damn near perfect screenplay and it’s so immediately apparent," another added.

And a third commented: "Damn he helped write it? you go glen coco."

Topics:  Entertainment , Film , Rotten Tomatoes , TV and Film , Netflix , US News

Poppy Bilderbeck is a Senior Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from The University of Manchester in 2021 with a First in English Literature and Drama, where alongside her studies she was Editor-in-Chief of The Tab Manchester. Poppy is most comfortable when chatting about all things mental health, is proving a drama degree is far from useless by watching and reviewing as many TV shows and films as possible and is such a crisp fanatic the office has been forced to release them in batches.

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Binge Guide

6 tv and streaming shows you should binge-watch in june 2024, we return to kingstown, king's landing, and carmy's kitchen, as well as the vastly different sci-fi/fantasy worlds of the boys , orphan black , and sweet tooth ..

TAGGED AS: streaming , TV

In June, we return to King’s Landing and Kingstown, plus the kitchen of The Bear and the post-apocalyptic world of Sweet Tooth . The superhero universe of The Boys and the clone club realm of Orphan Black are also back in a new season and a spinoff, respectively. These are the six streaming shows you should catch up on before they resume.

What it is: Food, family, and the restaurant business are the ingredients of this drama-infused culinary comedy series set in Chicago. Jeremy Allen White stars as Carmy, an award-winning chef who returns home to take over his late brother’s Italian beef sandwich shop. In the show’s second season, he and his brigade turn the spot into a fine dining establishment. Season 3 premieres Thursday, June 27.

Why you should watch it: Between the intense family and kitchen dynamics and the star-making performances from Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri, there’s never a dull or unappetizing moment in The Bear . Stressful in a compelling way, it’s a series that will whet your palate while wetting your brow.

Where to watch: Hulu (subscription, seasons 1-2)

Commitment: Approx. 10.5 hours (for seasons 1-2)

What it is: Adapted from the adult comic book series of the same name that brutally satirizes the superhero genre, The Boys follows the titular team of vigilantes tasked with monitoring people with powers. The “Supes” are as vile and corrupt as super-powered individuals might be in reality, and that makes this show about as R-rated as can be. Season 4 premieres Thursday, June 13.

Why you should watch it: Whether you think the superhero genre is too pure and optimistic, or you just want an outrageous action-fantasy show that’s anything but kid-friendly, The Boys is a funny, gory, dirty, and often shocking watch. Don’t be in the dark the next time one of its more astonishing episodes (like “Herogasm”) becomes the most talked-about TV content of the moment. The Boys is also part of a greater shared universe now, as live-action and animated spinoffs have been released since the start of this flagship show, which itself was just renewed for a fifth season following the upcoming fourth.

Where to watch: Prime Video (subscription, seasons 1-3); buy at Fandango At Home , Google Play , Microsoft , and Apple TV .

Commitment: Approx. 24 hours (for seasons 1-3)

What it is: The first Game of Thrones spinoff is a prequel set hundreds of years before the events of that hit HBO series and follows the reign of House Targaryen in the lead-up to the civil war known as the “Dance of the Dragons.” Season 2 premieres on Sunday, June 16.

Why you should watch it: If you loved Game of Thrones , you’ll also love this ensemble-based fantasy series set in the same universe and similarly focused on the politics and melodrama of kings, queens, and warriors. There’s a lot of tension between the many characters, especially among family members, as well as thrilling dragon-based action. As the show continues, it’s only going to get more gripping and more violent.

Where to watch: Max (subscription, season 1); buy at Fandango At Home , Google Play , Prime Video , Microsoft , and Apple TV .

Commitment: Approx. 10 hours (for season 1), or 84 hours if you include the eight seasons of Game of Thrones

What it is: From Taylor Sheridan, the creator of Yellowstone and Tulsa King, this violent crime series stars Jeremy Renner as the titular head of the titular town: Mike McLusky. For years, his family has been central to the power structure of Kingstown, where everything revolves around the local prison. Season 3 premieres Sunday, June 2.

Why you should watch it: While not as critically acclaimed as the other shows on this list, Mayor of Kingstown is popular with viewers (check that 90% Audience Score) as a successor to series like The Wire and Oz , with plenty of action and character-driven drama to hold interest. Season 3 is especially anticipated for Renner’s return following his near-fatal accident in 2023.

Where to watch: Paramount+ (subscription, seasons 1-2); buy at Fandango At Home ,   Prime Video , Google Play , Microsoft , and Apple TV .

Commitment: Approx. 15.5 hours (for seasons 1-2)

What it is: A sci-fi series starring Tatiana Maslany in a multi-role performance as several identical human clones. The plot of the show follows one clone in particular as she learns of their origins and must evade whoever is attempting to kill them all. The spinoff Orphan Black: Echoes , starring Krysten Ritter and set decades after the events of the main series, premieres on Thursday, June 23.

Why you should watch it: With the highly anticipated spinoff arriving soon, the original Orphan Black provides some necessary background into the world and characters of the new series. It’s also a consistently thrilling show with an exceptional, Emmy-winning performance by Maslany and is now considered a modern television classic.

Where to watch: AMC+ (subscription, seasons 1-5); buy at Fandango At Home , Prime Video , Google Play , Microsoft , and Apple TV .

Commitment: Approx. 37 hours (for  Orphan Black seasons 1-5)

What it is: Based on the Vertigo comic books, this Emmy-winning series takes place after a virus has wiped out most of the world’s population and children are born half-human/half-animal hybrids. The plot follows a 10-year-old boy with antlers in his quest to find his mother. Season 3 premieres Thursday, June 6.

Why you should watch it: With the third season being its last, now is the perfect time to catch up with Sweet Tooth before it ends. This is a rare coming-of-age fantasy show that you can watch with the whole family, as even its darkest moments are treated with care in a way that younger viewers can appreciate and learn from, and adults can also enjoy its uniquely strange premise and world-building. Christian Convery is absolutely charming in the lead role.

Where to watch:   Netflix (subscription, seasons 1-2); buy at Fandango At Home , Prime Video , Google Play , Microsoft , and Apple TV .

Commitment: Approx. 13 hours (for season 1-2)

Thumbnail image by Theo Whitman/HBO

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This Neo-Noir Crime Thriller With 98% on Rotten Tomatoes Inspired a Real Life Bank Robbery

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The Big Picture

• Robert Mitchum shines in his underrated performance as a Bostonian criminal in the neo-noir masterpiece, The Friends of Eddie Coyle.
• The film, once overlooked, highlights the gritty realism of bank robberies in Boston through chilling violence and intense action sequences, even going on to inspire a bank robbery attempt in 2009.
• Mitchum showcases his transformation as a vulnerable hood, adding a heartbreaking touch to his career of noir classics.

Life often imitates art. The all but forgotten neo-noir thriller , The Friends of Eddie Coyle , is an often overlooked '70s masterpiece. After years of playing tough guys and hard-boiled detectives, the effortlessly cool enigma that was Robert Mitchum gave one of his best and most underrated performances as a downtrodden Bostonian, who was miles away from the merciless Hollywood star fans had come to love and fear. One of the biggest leading men during the '40s and '50s, Mitchum became known for his roles in noir films, similar to fellow screen legend, Humphrey Bogart . With a renaissance of slow-burning thrillers beginning in the '70s, the neo-noir was born once again, and would last through the '80s.

The Friends of Eddie Coyle was not a box office success when it came out, though it is now praised for its many fantastic performances, riveting action sequences, and chilling violence that takes place sporadically throughout the film. Directed by Peter Yates , he was an acclaimed director known for films like Bullit and Breaking Away , but his gritty thriller fell through the cracks. Forgotten for decades, the film came under the spotlight when, decades later, a man robbed a bank in the same location in the same way as a group of criminals did in the film, putting the greatness and madness of the film on display.

The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973)

An aging hood is about to go back to prison. Hoping to escape his fate, he supplies information on stolen guns to the feds, while simultaneously supplying arms to his bank robbing chums.

What Is 'The Friends of Eddie Coyle' About?

Robert Mitchum stars as middle-aged gunrunner, Eddie Coyle, an embittered Bostonian who is mixed up with the local Irish mob. A father of three with dwindling funds, he finds himself in hot water when he's caught facing prison time, so he begins feeding information to the ATF to reduce his prison sentence. Richard Jordan co-stars as the cold-blooded ATF agent, Dave Foley, and character actor Peter Boyle plays a slimy local bartender who plays a part in Eddie's demise. As Foley convinces Eddie to turn in the man who is selling him the guns, Jackie Brown (a phenomenal Steven Keates ), who is also giving guns to a group of sadistic, crazed bank robbers, Eddie starts getting played by both sides.

A family man at his core who is simply trying to ensure a better future, the title finds the irony in the fact that while he does something for everybody, nobody does anything for him. And he certainly has no friends. With a fresh 98% on Rotten Tomatoes , the film is based on the best-selling novel written by crime novelist, George V. Higgens . His other crime novel, Cogan's Trade , would be turned into the critically acclaimed film, Killing Them Softly .

A Bank Robbery Happened at the Same Bank in the Film Decades Later

Though The Friends of Eddie Coyle faded into obscurity while other neo-noirs like Chinatown , Body Heat , and The Long Goodbye became defining films of the genre , the Robert Mitchum film got its 15 minutes of fame decades later. In 2009, The Friends of Eddie Coyle was re-released on DVD, which gave it a new chance to meet the masses. The bank robbery scenes in the film have been praised for being some of the best of its kind, with chilling, masked bank robbers hitting multiple real-life banks in Boston throughout the film. The movie begins with a bank robbery, and the robbers have an unsettling calmness to them as they have an organized way of brandishing their guns, holding bank tellers' families hostage, and the ability to get into vaults in a specific fashion.

The robberies happen in a parallel storyline to Eddie's as the film unfolds, and begins to turn ugly after a particularly grizzly robbery that ends with a murder. I t's one of the film's most intense, violent scenes, that adds a much-needed thrill to the mundanity of Coyle’s life. In 2009, the robberies would go on to share a striking similarity to an actual real-life robbery. During the heyday of DVDs, a few weeks after the film got its release on DVD, a man by the name of Delroy George Henry attempted to rob one of the same banks in Boston in the film, in the same way by trying to get into the vault. To start with, he entered the bank at around 8:40 a.m., the same time as the robbers in the movie . He brought a gun and had the staff sit on the floor similarly to in the film, but he did not have the same outcome. While the movie's robbery was successful, Henry was caught by the Dedham Police Department and disarmed before causing any harm.

Robert Mitchum Gave One of His Best and Most Underrated Performances

Robert Mitchum gives one of his greatest performances in The Friends of Eddie Coyle , and the most heartbreaking. His tall frame is no longer a force to be reckoned with, it's instead messed with and pushed around as he plays a weak pushover desperate for scraps. It's Mitchum's magnum opus in a career that was born in noir. Known for his roles as suave antiheroes in noir classics such as Out of the Past , he also became known for his merciless killers in films like Cape Fear and The Night of The Hunter , an underrated horror thriller that gave Mitchum one of his most diabolical roles. Here, Mitchum is devastating as a man who is all too aware he's on his way out, but tries for some piece of the action. Mitchum completely transformed as Eddie Coyle, and even performed one of the most perfect Boston accents you'll ever hear on screen. Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars , with obvious revere for Mitchum, who was one of his favorite actors .

'The Friends of Eddie Coyle' Is a Defining, Boston-Set Mob Movie

The Friends of Eddie Coyle is one of Boston's most underrated gangster films . It was the mob movie before The Departed or The Town , and had a gritty realism thanks to its filming on location and weathered character actors that other Boston-set films miss out on. The film has been noted for its influence on future directors who've made films in Boston , due to its unromantic portrayals of wise guys, and its extremely tense bank robbery scenes. Part of what makes the film work is Mitchum's commitment to playing a real Bostonian and wise guy. While filming, Mitchum would hang out around bars in the area, like his character, and get a real idea of what these people were really like.

Alex Rocco , who ( The Godfather ) was featured in the film in a supporting role as the cruel bank robber, Jimmy Scalise, was originally from Boston, where he was involved in a gang. For its 50th anniversary, The Boston Globe celebrated the film's 50th anniversary which detailed the shoot, noting, "Mitchum loved to hang out with the Teamsters he met on the set and (Alex) Rocco’s old friends from the neighborhood." The Globe also included Rocco's remarks, "'I knew a couple of the wise guys,' Rocco said, recalling that during production they often took the actor out to the bars. 'It wasn’t really my scene, but Mitchum loved that.'”

This 1933 Crime Film Created the New Hollywood Standard

This 1933 movie showed how the American culture war led to the Hays Code.

Ben Affleck has also mentioned how the film was an important influence on The Town , which received critical acclaim and also included a variety of masked, armed robberies in banks around Boston. Shooting a crucial scene at a Boston Bruins game as they play the Chicago Blackhawks, you can almost smell the beer Eddie is drinking, and practically feel the chill rising from the ice. It's claustrophobic, intense, and is a small-scale movie about big-time crimes. The final scene is shot outside Boston City Hall, which would appear in many future gangster films. As two key players both walk their separate ways unscathed, it's a beautifully shot, dark encapsulation of Boston, that lets audiences know that in this city, in the criminal underworld, there are no heroes or friends.

The Friends of Eddie Coyle is available to stream on Kanopy in the U.S.

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