SICARIO  2.5***

 

     This is another time I disagree with the critics who are hailing this movie as excellent, saying it’s one of the best films of the year. A majority of the audiences seem to agree. I do not.

Yes, Sicario is well-made — in the sense that it looks, feels and plays like a professional piece of filmmaking. Yes, it is well acted by its stars. No complaints so far, but in my opinion it is quite overrated.  It is slow,  confusing and even obtuse. It takes what  is basically a lurid thriller and tries to make you believe there is  significance that simply isn’t there.  Apart from an exciting opening sequence (that promised a far more intriguing film than was delivered), this is basically just another violent movie about drug trafficking. It’s efficient enough at what it does, but what it does is neither new nor significant.

 Following the  opening in which two FBI agents are killed, a seemingly naïve FBI lead agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) finds herself   recruited to work with a shadowy agency  to fight a Mexican drug cartel. No one seems to be even slightly inclined to tell her exactly who her new bosses are — the flip-flop-wearing  Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) and his perplexing partner Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro) —  or who they work for.. She goes along with it because she’s idealistic and because she’d like to get revenge for the two dead agents.  

At this point, the movie turns full throttle on drug war stuff that feels  like it’s playing on a kind of Donald Trump view of all-things-Mexican. As presented in the film, everything in Mexico  is corrupt and no one can be trusted. But, for that matter, things don’t seem that much better stateside, and that, I suspect, is the supposed point of the film. The rest is for you to see and try to figure out (good luck) although I don’t recommend seeing this one..

Despite being well-made and well-acted, what we end up with is essentially just another violent crime drama straining — and failing — to make a significant statement.

 

Rated R for strong violence, grisly images and language.

Clark