Whenever a film is billed as a "crime thriller," especially one of the independent variety, it's taken as short hand to mean "this is yet another derivative Tarantino-esque endeavor." Rivaled only by flesh-eating zombies as the favored flavor of shoestring filmmaking, the "guy with the gun and the suitcase full of money" never fails to intrigue the lazy auteur. Why bother creating something new when you can create your own spin on a story that's already been written, filmed and proven to please? Fortunately for those who enjoy the crime genre, the "Reservoir Fiction" affliction does not seem to affect serious filmmakers outside of the US. Fresh, innovative films like the British "Sexy Beast" and the Spanish "Burnt Money" continue to thrill audiences in the States.

Spanish filmmaker Enrique Urbizu's "Box 507" is just such an entertainment; dramatically intense and refreshingly unexpected. While no exploitation film it's true to convention and boldly violent - but not gratuitously so. Modesto (Antonio Resines from the cult Spanish favorite "Mutant Action") is a bank manager who has never quite recovered from his daughter's death in a brush fire seven years ago. When his wife is taken hostage by a group of thieves who want inside his bank's safety deposit vault, he is forced to assist them. Tied, beaten and left inside the vault, Modesto eventually frees himself and unwittingly comes across some documents discarded by the thieves. The documents reveal the death of his daughter might not have been the result of an accidental brush fire. Of course the papers belong to shady underworld figure Rafael (Jose Coronado) and when they turn up missing he, misguidedly, seeks out the bank robbers. Since Modesto is the one who actually possesses the documents (which involve a crooked land deal and political corruption) the two men are destined to meet. What follows is an intriguing parallel storyline with both men on a frenzied mission; one involving revenge and one involving the search for the missing documents.

The screenplay by Urbizu and Michel Gaztambide sharply avoids most clichés inherent in the genre by emphasizing character and story. Because both Modesto and Rafael are given fleshed out existences, their actions are not just believable, but truly compelling. The death of a loved one is certainly nothing new to the typical revenge scenario, but Resines' plays the tortured Modesto with a haunted conviction. After his wife has been hospitalized from the mistreatment of her abductors, the shaken bank manager is forced to spend a night in a hotel room by himself. His loneliness and frustration in the small room is palpable; revenge is not merely his reaction to the found evidence, it is his salvation. Rafael, a high-level henchman who is double-crossing his mafia-like boss, could have easily been a one-note "bad guy." But the character is difficult to dislike entirely, even when his anger is directed at his long-suffering girlfriend. Coronado is equally compelling in his portrayal of this cunning, manipulative killer. There is compassion behind his stoic facade; something that Coronado deftly communicates in his portrayal. Because of this, his odyssey in tracking down the stolen documents is intriguing and even suspenseful. The only weak link (in both the script and the casting) is the character of Modesto's wife Maria (Dafne Fernandez). The role is severely underwritten and, as played by Fernandez, strangely removed from the drama. Though this doesn't ultimately hurt the film, the marginalization of her part is distracting. Especially given the layered characterizations of everyone else in the film, including minor supporting roles.

Much of the enjoyment of "Box 507" comes from the fluid, (but never distracting), cinematography of Carles Gusi. Compared to the hyperkinetic visuals that inundate American crime thrillers, Gusi's lens is always moving but never overshadowing the narrative flow. Caffeine-fueled directors like Guy Ritchi and Paul W.S. Anderson would benefit greatly from watching this tightly (read: coherently) paced and edited thriller. The music by Mario de Benito (a prolific Spanish composer) also enhances the narrative flow with a strong, yet subtle, use of music.

This DVD from TLA Releasing contains a nice print of the film and a suitable stereo mix of the soundtrack. The picture presentation is pristine, free from artifacts and framed in its original aspect ratio. Aside from the usual inclusion of trailers (all TLA titles), there are no extras included.

This tightly paced and well-written Spanish thriller is a genuine surprise and definitely makes director Urbizu a talent to champion.