2007 / Marco Kreuzpaintner > Trade may just be this year’s biggest missed opportunity, overshooting any chance of credibility with its amateur, aggrandized screenplay. Because the subject of sex trafficking is misunderstood in both its scope and prevalence, Kreuzpaintner and screenwriter Jose Rivera’s attempt to bring it onto the mainstream is admirable, but ends up being frustrating in its execution. While the cinematography and score are superb, the writing that surrounds it is vapid and cliche. (This worries me terribly since Rivera is in charge of scripting the American remake of the superb Korean drama Failan.) The excess in the storytelling particularly disappoints, taking away the focus from the true horror of the industry while emphasizing the superfluous. Ultimately, I wanted to like it but couldn’t; I found myself too angry at its silliness and disrespect for the subject matter.