La Soga (The Butcher's Son)

Although at times the film gets bogged down in psychological murkiness, the relentless pace and brooding charisma of its star overcomes its narrative deficiencies.

Made mainly by Yanks and New York-based Dominicans, the vibrant film bursts with local color and trades in very specific aspects of criminality, island-style.

There's nothing about Josh Crook's cop saga that will strike you as new, but he and his talented lead do build an epic feel into this gritty tale of corruption.

As the character grows soft and sentimental, so does La Soga, and the film's edge is terminally dulled by an avalanche of cliches and schmaltz.

La Soga isn't without redeeming qualities: Superfluous flashbacks aside, Crook keeps the action moving at a fast clip, cutting fluidly from the streets of Santiago to its criminal pipeline in Washington Heights, and he gets a sinister turn from Calderon, a veteran character actor who plays Rafa with a soulful swagger.

If La Soga feels neither gritty nor poignant enough to hit that sweet spot, it's not for a lack of sincerity.

It's disheartening that a story with roots in autobiography, no matter how tentative, should end up as such an impersonal genre rehash.