I'm not very fond of co-productions between different countries, mostly between Spanish-speaking countries; but is something that is done a lot today and I have to accept it. Mexico has a very wide range of film and an important filmography inside of Latin America's countries. But…There's always one but. Lots of soap-operas are done in Mexico too, and there's a lot of television.

And as I said, many times television looks like movies, which is good, but also movies look like television; which is absolutely terrible. "Nicotina" starts as silent as a telephonic call; with one line in the screen that represents a person talking, and another one that represents another person, and so it goes. It also has the usual black screen with anything on it, typical of directors that don't take risks.

The story follows Lolo, a hacker lost in the lust of her neighbor Andrea's love, who has to enter an account to get money for el Nene, who drives with Tomson, and has to pay a Russian mobster that will sell some much cherished diamonds to him. This leads to shoots and encounters in different places, like Goyo's and his wife Barbershop, or Beto's and his wife Pharmacy.

The actors are Marta Belaustegui, Lucas Crespi, Jesús Ochoa, Norman Sotolongo, Rafael Inclán, Rosa María Bianchi, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Carmen Madrid and Diego Luna; and they all accomplish their portrayals very well. The latter one is the cover of the film, or the most known of the actors nowadays. I won't tell his whole story, but I will say that being the reason many people saw the movie, he doesn't deliver.

What ensue are multiple talks between all of the characters. Not any talks, but insightful, interesting, metaphoric talks that ultimately seem to lead to the film's title. And the writer, Martin Salinas, is probably the most prepared man of the crew, whose first words for a movie got Norma Aleandro an Oscar nomination. He has written for series, for movies in two languages…

This script, however, presents a contradiction. We can't tell if his plot is an excuse to develop these conversations, or even worse, if the conversations are an excuse to fill the incoherent plot. And it's right there, in the plot, where the film has its defined problems. The ending is fantastic indeed, and thought provoking, but we get confused during the road, and we don't feel the time.

When Goyo's wife is about to shoot him, the shot changes to another scenario. Strangely and incorrectly, when the camera goes back to the couple's barbershop, the woman is still holding the gun…After five minutes. Is not only Salinas' fault but director Hugo Rodriguez's; because he prefers not to take risks during his second feature.

And he can't manage the timing. And it looks like television. And I didn't plan to stay home.

It's a warm night in Mexico City and we peek in on 90 minutes of obsessive behavior mixed with criminal activity.

Lolo (Diego Luna) is trying to sell codes to a Swiss bank to a Russian in exchange for diamonds, while he peeks in on Andria (María Beláustegui). She discovers his peeping, and destroys the disks he made. Now, the fun begins.

Lolo meets Nene (Lucas Crespi) and Tomson (Jesús Ochoa),but he doesn't have the disk they are paying for. Double cross? No, just carelessness, but shooting starts and the Russian starts running. He ends up in a barbershop run by Carmen (Rosa María Bianchi) and Goyo (Rafael Inclán),where things really get bizarre and out of control.

Nene ends up in a pharmacy with Clara (Carmen Madrid) and Beto (Daniel Giménez Cacho). Lolo ends up there, too.

The whole movie plays like a guy Ritchie caper with a Mexican flavor.

The subject of smoking and quitting runs throughout. it provides many moments of humor, and eventually, one smoker's carelessness does him in.

At best a PG-13. It' s dark comedy with only suggested sex.

Nicotina: 5 out of 10: Nicotina represents a black comedy tradition that has been alive and well in Mexico for over fifty years. Death is around every corner and it is a punch line to boot. All the men are womanizers and many of the women are no better. Director Hugo Rodríguez and Writer Martín Salinas took this beloved tradition and married it to its distant cousin, the Quentin Tarantino crime film.

It is a decent fit. The basic plot is that a Mexican criminal gang is switching computer bank codes with a Russian gangster for diamonds. I do not think I am spoiling anything by pointing out that not everything goes as planned. The two criminal gangs end up involving the computer geek that downloaded the data. His next door neighbor, a sexy and promiscuous cellist, played by Marta Belaustegui; Her conductor, a possible future sugar daddy: a plant toting upstairs neighbor: a pharmacist couple, with a beautiful saintly wife played admirably by Carmen Madrid: and a beauty shop couple, with an evil harridan wife played chillingly by Rosa María Bianchi: plus the occasional police officer and a scary dog.

Some of the camera tricks can be fancy without any underling purpose, and I have not seen this much pastel neon on buildings since that Don Johnson episode of True Hollywood Stories. Overall, the film is nice. It is a pleasant, good time. It is not particularly scary, thrilling, funny, sexy, or clever and that is it’s only real fault. There is nothing terrible memorable in the ninety odd minutes of movie. Oh and do not watch if you are trying to quit smoking. I have never seen a movie so relentless in its promotion of tobacco. It is like watching Eat Drink Man Woman while trying to diet,