Amores perros (2000)

Three stories meet at one car crash, and only two of them deserve the trip. The middle one follows a model whose little dog disappears under the floorboards of her new apartment, and it has half the energy of the others. The other two hit hard. Gael García Bernal’s Octavio is a kid in love with his brother’s wife who drags himself and his dog into the underground dog-fighting world for cash, and every bad decision feels painfully real. Emilio Echevarría’s El Chivo is the soul of the movie: a scruffy, silent loner with a past, watching the daughter he left behind from across the street. Alejandro González Iñárritu ties it all together with one terrible crash, and it hits just as hard every time the movie circles back. It made $20.9 million worldwide on a reported $2.4M, and it holds a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. An 8.9 because two of the three stories are great, and the great ones are really great. $665.13 says you look up from your phone at every crosswalk for at least a week.

What works: Octavio’s and El Chivo’s stories are tense and full of life, and Emilio Echevarría gives the movie its heart.

What doesn’t: The middle story about the model and her lost dog drags badly, and the whole movie could stand to be a lot shorter.

Who it’s for: Viewers who like tangled, interlocking stories and don’t mind subtitles and a long, heavy sit.