Las Acacias is probably the most misleading film title since The Last King of Scotland. Sure, trees and shrubbery feature heavily in the film, but so do trucks, cigarettes, and roads. A minor detail, or a symbol of the utter pointlessness of this ''Argentinian'' fare. ''Argentinian'' because most of the film takes places in a battered old Scania truck, as it crosses the border between Asuncion and Buenos Aires; soin that respect it's as Paraguayan as it is Argentinian. 

This is a film about a lift.

Ruben is a lonely cantankerous trucker, who for some unexplained reason has agreed to do a friend a favour and take a Guarini Paraguayan woman, Jacinta, to Buenos Aires in his truck. Sounds straightforward, but Ruben hadn't accounted for the unknown variable of a shrieking baby. "A baby?" asks Ruben. "No one said anything about a baby." It's OK; Ruben decides he is cool with the baby.

It's just as well : this is a film about a lift.

It soon becomes clear that this is essentially it, that there is no underlying plot waiting to kick the film into life. It's technically not a ''road movie'', as that implies a sense of adventure.

There is not even any tension or intrigue involved in the border crossing, as this is allowed and wholly legal once documentation is provided.

This is a film about a lift.

The border guard informs her of this; that she has ninety days to enjoy Buenos Aires, then she must return to Paraguay. Jacinta and her baby are cool with this. This is not Sin Nombre, where each clandestine border crossing atop a train is a matter of life or death.

This is benign; a film about a lift.

The border crossed, the predominant sound is one of silence, as Ruben continues his impressive aping of a mute. He's rude and uncouth to her at first, smoking and chugging water while she suffers in thirsty silence. Then the baby starts shrieking. Make her stop. Ruben realises he's going to need to play nice if he's going to avoid a migraine, so he offers the baby a prop of sorts. The crying abates; ahhhhhhh.

The first sign of sexual tension between Ruben and Jacinta becomes apparent here, and a potential turning point emerges: they are going to fornicate in the back of the truck.

But there's the baby; that wouldn't be cool. Alas, that one glimmer of hope for the film is extinguished as quickly as it fleetingly appeared. (I should point out here that Jacinta is a naturally attractive woman; a little withered but attractive nonetheless).

It is now established beyond any reasonable doubt: this is a film about a lift.

Arty types will tell you there is a charm in the way that this simple roadtrip acts as a conduit for friendship by virtue of serendipity. And that may well be, but it needs a bit of charisma, a bit of humour, to make it believable. And this film is too devoid of any of these to pull off what it is trying to.

Normally I would recommend any South American film on the basis that, even if it's as insipid as this one, it has the advantage of introducing the viewer to interesting cultural and linguistic aspects. But this film has so little dialogue that it only barely even qualifies as a ''talkie'', and as far as Argentinian culture is concerned : the film takes place in the cab of a truck.

An Argentinian film about a lift is one for the obsessives. Or the narcoleptic.

 
Paul Morrissey