AllMovie

Real life and reel life intersect in unexpected ways in this fusion of comedy and action from Argentina. Juan Garofalo (Joel Drut) is an aspiring screenwriter who thinks he's landed his lucky break when he's hired by director Samuel Goldszer (Miguel Forza de Paul) and writer Daniel (Christian Drut) to help punch up the script for their next project. Samuel wants to make a film about the criminal underworld in the ghettos of Buenos Aires, and together the three men hash out a story involving good-hearted crook Dylan (Jose Gonzalez), his handicapped brother Timmy (Federico Lanfranchi), and conniving moll Lana (Lorena Damonte). But as the writing sessions go on, the story becomes less of an allegorical fable (as Daniel was hoping to write) and more of a morass of crime film clichés (as Samuel demands the requisite sex and violence, as well as other touches he thinks the audience will enjoy). As the three men discuss the story, the events begin to play out on screen as we watch, until these two planes of reality begin to blur. Pompeya was the first feature film from director Tamae Garateguy.