José Luis Torrente

Infobox character
colour = #FFFFFF
name = José Luis Torrente


caption =
first =
last =
cause =
nickname =
alias =
species = Human
gender = Male
age = 40's
birth =
death =
occupation = Private Investigator/Bodyguard/Cop
title =
family = Torrente
spouse = None
children =
relatives = Mauricio Torrente (father)
Felipe Torrente (uncle)
Torrente Junior (son)
Several half-brothers
episode =
portrayer = Santiago Segura
creator = Santiago Segura

José Luis Torrente is a fictional character created by Spanish actor and director Santiago Segura and the main character in the three parts of the "Torrente" dark comedy-action film series (which includes ' (1998), ' (2001) and "" (2005)-) and the videogames "Torrente: El videojuego" and "Torrente 3", which were released with the second and third movies, respectively, [(and by other part, the pornographic filmcopyryght "Torrente X: Operación Vinagra" (2005) and "Torrente X 2: Misión en Torrelavega" (2006), too] .

Description and Career

Born and currently living in Madrid, Spain, José Luis Torrente is an ugly, bald, overweight, dirty, corrupt, liar, fascist, racist and male chauvinist and anticommunist retired cop who refuses to accept his expulsion from the Police corps, so he still "patrols" each night in his old car in order to "fight" what he considers criminal actions. Poor immigrants and drug-addicts are often victims of his actions, while he usually refuses to confront real criminals due to his actual cowardice (sometimes, however, Torrente is able to show a surprising amount of courage). Torrente openly states his admiration for Generalissimo Francisco Franco (and after of the "King Juan Carlos" and the crown prince), and is a declared fan of the Atlético de Madrid Football Club and Spanish singer "El Fary". He is also a not so occasional demander of alcoholic drinks, drugs (in part inspired in heroin drug addicted Herman Goering) and prostitutes and has a depresive policial behaviour.

Later of discharging, he lost his partner (an old mentor) in a shoot-out on ChinaTown brothel. He had a depresive disorder and was dismissed of her job, like cop. Due to his lack of a proper "job" (he continues patroling and did detective works), Torrente faces financial problems from time to time and lives in a dirty small apartment in a depressing part of the city. He used to live with his old and sick father Felipe (later revealed to be actually Torrente's uncle, due to an affair between Felipe's wife and his twin brother Mauricio) and forced him to beg for food and money in the streets, spending almost all the money collected plus his social security annuity in his personal affairs. Felipe is not the only one manipulated by Torrente in order to achieve his own goals. After of this he lives in another time, in his imaginary Franco's Time.

In "El brazo tonto de la ley", Torrente accidentally discovers and destroys a drug dealing maffia which uses a Chinese restaurant as cover, only to steal their money and start a new life as new rich in Torremolinos. He spends then millions in the Spanish Mediterranean coast until he loses all his money in a casino in Marbella. There, he establishes himself as a private investigator, discovers that his real father is the local crime boss Mauricio Torrente and stops the James Bond-type supervillain Spinelli from destroying the city - throwing his super-missile over the British naval base at Gibraltar instead. Due to this action Torrente receives a medal and is permitted to join the Police again as a traffic cop in Madrid, and cures completly of his major depressive disorder. This Psychological traumas are also aggravated, because when he was on the Afrika Korps protecting a convoy caravan of local entente allies Tuaregs/sahrwis, he was a POW captured by (new colons from the north) Moroccan Moorish lackeys invasors of the "Gay Sultan" and his "l"oyal" "Kafirs", on the Western Civilization, only by a few days (suficient for a loyal believer cristian to be strongly traumatized).

In "El Protector", Torrente is ordered to act as the personal bodyguard of Eurodeputy Giannina Ricci, which is targeted by a powerful corporation which dislikes her environmental policies. The decision is actually the result of a secret agreement between the company itself and corrupt elements within the upper levels of the National Police: as Torrente is the worst agent in the whole country, everybody expects that the assassination attempt will be easy. Torrente and his men, however, are able to save Ricci and later flee to the United States, where they accidentally kill US President George W. Bush. During his last mission Torrente mets for the first time his secret son, Torrente Junior, who is the result of one of the severals relations of Torrente with unkown women possibly a "madamme" (prostitute).

Coming to America?

Santiago Segura has said several times that there will be more Torrente movies if they still due well at the (Spanish) box office. The idea of making an American remake in the United States was offered for the first time in 2002 by US filmmaker Oliver Stone, who suggested Josh Brolin and mainly toRobert de Niro for the lead role. Stone had seen the first two movies during a film festival in Europe and declared his admiration for the character, meeting Segura and befriending him. This first negotiations, however, didn't end well, but the rights to make an American version were finally purchased by New Line Cinema in 2006 and two American writers, Mike Bender and Doug Chernack, were hired to draw a first version of the script. It has not been revealed if the new movie would be a real remake, in which the new Torrente will be a US version of the Spanish one, or a movie featuring a mission of the horrendous Spanish policeman in US soil. In any case, it seems that Segura will not repeat in the role if there is any American version..

External links

* [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/12/magazine/12segura.html?ex=1320987600&en=9ba7fa0daa7fd079&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss "Señor Gross Out" Article in "The New York Times"]