Torrente, el brazo tonto de la ley (1998) on Netflix
José Luis Torrente is a lazy ex-policeman in Madrid. He befriends Rafi, nerdy cousin of the neighbor he is after, and starts watching a Chinese restaurant he suspects is a drug front.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb6.8/1015,501 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
José Luis Torrente, a former policeman in Madrid, lives in a decrepit slum apartment with his disabled father, whose checks are the household's only income. A family that runs a fish store moves in below, and Torrente takes an interest in Amparo, the niece. To get closer to her, he befriends her cousin Rafi, a nerdy weapons enthusiast, taking him to target practice and along on nightly rounds of the neighborhood. On those patrols he notices criminal activity at a new Chinese restaurant, and he decides that breaking up the drug ring there might restore the standing he lost in the police force. His only helpers are Rafi and Rafi's friends.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Torrente, el brazo tonto de la ley (1998)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Santiago Segura got the idea for José Luis Torrente during a lunch in a Chinese restaurant, where a customer was so rude to a waitress that the customer's own relatives felt ashamed. He built the character from Nero in Quo vadis, Chief Wiggum in The Simpsons and Harry Lime in The Third Man.
- Santiago Segura decided to direct his first film while shooting the final scene of The Day of the Beast, where director Alex de la Iglesia ignored his ideas about his dying character, José María. The snub convinced Segura he needed to direct to get creative control.
- At the Goya Awards, Tony Leblanc dedicated his Best Supporting Actor prize to Santiago Segura for reviving his career, and Segura paid Javier Fesser 100,000 pesetas after winning Best New Director, having bet the prize would go to Fesser for The Miracle of P. Tinto.
- The Torrente films have a cult following in Hungary, which Segura learned about from crew members while shooting Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Amazed by it, he attended the 2012 Hungarian premiere of the fourth film and did interviews with leading media there.
- Torrente became the highest-grossing film in the history of Spanish cinema, a record later taken by its own sequel, Torrente 2: Misión en Marbella.
- Santiago Segura kept the title role for himself and put on between 20 and 30 kg to play Torrente.
