LADRON QUE ROBA A LADRON

ADRON QUE ROBA A LADRON (“Thief That Robs a Thief”) is an OCEAN’S THIRTEEN with a Latino immigrant twist. Old thieves join forces with a crew of immigrants to rob a more jaded old thief named Valdez, who has made a fortune selling snake oil products to poor immigrants. The movie is sort of a Roberto Hood meets MISSION IMPOSSIBLE. Alejandro (Fernando Colunga) and Emilio (Miguel Varoni) recruit three men to pull off an elaborate sting. In addition to seeking the cash, they want the names of Valdez’s victims so they can return some of the loot.

A subplot of the movie is the ability of ordinary gardeners, repairmen and nannies to slide under the villain’s radar because cheap immigrant labor is considered ignorant and gullible. Roberto Hood’s merry men and women must outsmart a professional security staff that suffers from a chronic case of pride. Production qualities are good in this movie. It’s easy to be drawn in to rooting for the good bad guys to teach the bad bad guys a lesson.

The problem with a movie like this is that it asks you to root for thieves because they are more noble than the person being robbed. Recognizing the problem the script includes a scene where Roberto Hood prays in a church for forgiveness for the sin he’s about to commit.

The temptation to play Roberto Hood is as bad as the temptation to play vigilante. When you take the law into your own hands and kill someone you believe is guilty you undermine the system of justice. When you take money from rich people to give to poor people, you undermine the economic system. God calls his people to be charitable. He condemns theft. When politicians can play thief and pose before cameras as if they are charitable heroes, they are being hypocrites. It is dangerous to give anyone the power to give away other people’s money.

God loves the poor. He called the gospel, “good news” for the poor. His wisdom and advice can help people overcome spiritual and financial poverty. Handouts from Robin Hood all too often create a class of people who live with their hand outstretched waiting for the rich to be robbed more and more.

Many immigrants are willing to live 20 to a house, each working two jobs to escape poverty. America was, and continues to be, built by immigrants (and others) working hard to lift their family out of poverty. When plans and dreams shift from work-to-succeed to wait-for-a-handout we are in trouble. Jesus Christ is the Savior. His Lordship includes a call to hard work. When we look to Robin Hood or some politician as our savior, we wind up with the government telling us what we can have, what we can do, and what we can say. As the economic engine of capitalism slows, the socialist Robin Hoods will have to put their subjects to work growing beans and rice to avoid starvation.