If you meet a girl when she’s standing in front of a porn theatre waiting for it to open, you might want to consider exactly how far you want to take the relationship. Or you could just take her horseback riding through the streets of Santiago while simultaneously trying to make her dreams come true. This second thing is what happens in The Dancer and the Thief times a million. Said girl is also a mute, suicidal ballerina who can switch from classical dance to hip-hop mid-song. Said horseback rider is an insufferably plucky young criminal named Angel who has just been freed from prison. Aside from love at first sight, Angel’s top post-prison priority is to enlist the aid of celebrity safecracker Nicholas Vergara Grey who has also just been sprung and is attempting to go straight. Amidst this mixture of crime caper, melodrama, and romantic comedy, The Dancer and the Thief also attempts to ease the suffering of a country wounded by a dictatorial past. It leaves the viewer asking, “Is a romantic comedy really the best forum to explore the political and social tribulations of post-Pinochet Chile?” But such questions are washed away in this avalanche of stunning, hyper-emotional dramedy. The Dancer and the Thief works. MERLIN MANNELLY
The Dancer and the Thief plays tonight at 9:15 pm at the Neptune.
