Rabbit on the Moon

This ambitious, unsatisfactory, thriller concerning an illegal state kidnapping takes a very jaundiced view of politics, both in Mexico and England. Trusting, middle-class Antonio (Bruno Bichir) gets unwittingly involved with an illegal land purchase run on behalf of a corrupt government minister; when that same minister’s attempt to kill the uncooperative Minister of Commerce fails, he brands Antonio responsible and gets his deputy police chief (a smiling and brutal Jesus Ochoa) to abduct his wife (Lorraine Pilkington) and four-month-old baby, forcing him to flee.

It’s a busy two hours; the writer-producer-director plays the jailed wife’s humiliation and battle to survive in tandem with Antonio’s incredible tailing of the minister, conveniently exiled as ambassador to London. Bichir is vulnerable as the fugitive, but Ramirez-Saurez’s attempt at psychological and political depth is scuppered by the simplicities and implausibilities of his script.