What to Watch: Sicario

I saw an old friend from advertising post about how wonderful Sicario was, so I had to look into it. I wasn't aware, but it's a fictional look at the Cartels in Mexico and America's involvement.

I love Emily Blunt. I loved her in The Devil Wears Prada. I love her hilarious prank war with Jimmy Kimmel. I love her (seemingly perfect) relationship with John Krasinski. I was ready to watch her in a role unlike any other I've seen her in.

I rented the movie from Amazon and sat down with a cup of tea on a chilly evening. 

I've been interested in Mexico and the cartels recently--probs thanks to Narcos, Cartel Land, and The Bridge. Sicario is the slang term for hit-man. This movie explores a war on cartels that isn't a war on Mexico, but kind of is. It's a little bit about retribution, and a little bit about stopping the war on drugs, and mostly about violence. The cinematography in this movie is excellent--there's a shoot out scene on a bridge full of cars and people and it's just riveting.

Blunt plays an FBI agent who's brought in to help on an anti-drug task force operation. She asks the questions about the operation that we're interested in, is wonderful--tough, smart, ethical, hard. Josh Brolin plays the head of the task force, Matt. He's irreverent, but confusing and frustrating. You just want to understand what's going on, but he never really tells you. And then, there's Alejandro, played by Benicio Del Toro. He's a shady agent, and the last third of the movie is a bit focused on who he is, and turns the movie into a bit of a parable. He was wonderful--he's brooding, sneaky, and quiet. You get this lethal sense from him from the moment you meet him. It's kinda crazy.

So, all in all, I thought it was worth the rental, but not the best move I've seen this year, and not as much of an indictment of the violence that's spilling across the border.

Watch the trailer, here:

Sidenote: Benicio Del Toro and Brad Pitt are twins. It's insane.