Miss Bala

Texan filmmaker Catherine Hardwicke is one of the most prominent female Hollywood directors currently working.

Her movies Thirteen and Lords of Dogtown shaped the film aesthetic of the early 2000s, and although not entirely indicative of her prowess as a filmmaker, Twilight is one of the highest grossing films directed by a woman. Other than Thirteen, which she co-wrote with lead actress Nikki Reed, and Plush, which she co-wrote with Arty Nelson, Hardwicke works alongside writers with a completed screenplay. In some cases, such as Lords of Dogtown, the screenplay doesn’t hold back her directing ability. However, as in most cases where the writer and director are working collaboratively, one tends to outshine the other.

Miss Bala is a prime example of the latter. Hardwicke took the reigns as the director of the film and, as evident in most of her previous works, is passionate about female representation within Hollywood. However, her ability is heavily suppressed by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer’s lack of writing ability. Dunnet-Alcocer, who had never written a feature film screenplay until this one, does not seem like the right man to adapt the widely popular Mexican movie for American audiences. Gerardo Naranjo, the writer and director of the original film, is clearly a more developed filmmaker, and his screenplay is, unsurprisingly, far better than the mess Dunnet-Alcocer came up with.

So just as any film where the screenwriter pales in comparison to the ability of the director, the screenplay sticks out amongst the bad-ass imagery of Hardwicke’s film. This, unfortunately, negatively affects the overall feel of the film. However, Hardwicke proves throughout the film why she is one of the top female directors in Hollywood. She beautifully paints her heroine, Gloria, played by Gina Rodriguez, trapped between the law of the DEA and the law of a Mexican cartel, perfectly developing her character arc.

Rodriguez, who recently made the transition from her widely popular television show Jane the Virgin to film, continues to establish her presence within Hollywood. In 2018, she appeared as one of the four main characters in Alex Garland’s popular sci-fi film Annihilation. In each of these performances, she earns her growing reputation as an action star. Her screen presence is felt in every scene and her ability perfectly compliments Hardwicke’s female-driven style.

Miss Bala walks the blurry line that every American remake walks in the process of adapting a foreign film. In nearly every case, the American version of the film exploits the popularity of the original for the gain of Hollywood producers. Yet, in the case of this movie, Hardwicke seems to take the source film and tell her own story. Even with her lack of ability to change the screenplay, Hardwicke focuses her directorial power to creating a film where it doesn’t feel out of place for a woman to be the star of an action film.

As stated and shown in her previous work, Hardwicke is passionate about bringing the female voice to a male-dominated industry. Her work, alongside the work of Kathryn Bigelow, Dee Rees, Sofia Coppola and the many other female directors in American film industry, is paving the way for younger women to have their voice in Hollywood.

Overall, Miss Bala is heavily held back by its screenplay. However, the artistic talent of Hardwicke combined with acting ability of Rodriguez certainly makes up for the lack of quality writing.