Terrific thriller set in Ecuador

With Latin American A-listers Alfonso Cuaron and Guillermo del Toro on board as producers, and indie renaissance guy John Leguizamo topping the bill, Cronicas has a lot of heft in its credits.

It also has a lot of heft, period.

A taut, tricky thriller, written and directed by Sebastian Cordero and set in his native Ecuador, Cronicas is both a nail-biting serial-killer mystery and a cutting commentary on the questionable ethics of a certain brand of television journalism.

Leguizamo, speaking mostly in Spanish (with the occasional downshift into English), is Manolo Bonilla, a Geraldo Rivera-type tabloid TV reporter on the trail of an abductor of children in a remote Ecuadorian town. With his ace cameraman (Jose Maria Yazpik) and beautiful producer (Leonor Watling, from Pedro Almodóvar's Talk to Her) in tow, he thwarts a brutal mob beating and befriends the victim, Don Lucho (Henry Layana). The man had hit a boy with his truck - the twin brother of one of the missing, murdered kids - and an angry crowd had begun pummeling Lucho, setting him on fire.

Bonilla's rescue is aired on TV, making the intrepid investigative reporter even more of a star than he already had been. When Lucho confides that he has knowledge of the whereabouts of one of the missing girls, Bonilla's antenna shoots up - he's got the inside track on the biggest story out there.

Cronicas uses its locations to winning effect: a shantytown built on stilts over the water, a sun-dried town of dirt and clay, colorful, out-of-the-way bars and hotels. Layana is creepy and compelling as a Bible salesman with a sinister side, and Leguizamo brings an aptly calculating cool to his portrayal of the ambitious ace reporter.

Cronicas is the kind of tense, terrific suspenser that screams for a Hollywood remake. Only the remake won't be anywhere near as good, so check out the original.

Contact movie critic Steven Rea

at 215-854-5629 or srea@phillynews.com.

Cronicas

*** 1/2 (out of four stars)

Written and directed by Sebastian Cordero. With John Leguizamo, Leonor Watling and Henry Layana. In Spanish with subtitles.

Running time: 1 hour, 48 mins.

Parent's guide: R (violence, profanity, sex, adult themes)

Playing at: Ritz At the Bourse and Ritz Sixteen/NJ