Sicario (9/10): VIlleneuve delivers a brilliant atmospheric thriller

“You will not survive here. You are not a wolf, and this is a land of wolves now.”

It’s been over a month now since I’ve seen this film and it has stuck with me in a way few films have this year. Denis Villeneuve is a talented director who knows how to build the right atmosphere for his movies. Sicario is all about tone and atmosphere. We’ve seen the premise of this film done to death, but somehow Villeneuve and screenwriter Taylor Sheridan manage to tell a familiar story in a very unique way. The success of Sicario isn’t that it has a unique premise or a fantastic twist, but that it manages to tell a familiar story in such a captivating way with some of the best performances of the year. Sicario will be included in my list of the best films of 2015 without a doubt, and it is a must see for movie fans around the globe. Emily Blunt continues to expand her acting career with another brilliant performance although its Benicio de Toro who will get all the accolades for getting the stronger dramatic material to work with.

The film has the best opening sequence by far in a movie released this year as we are introduced to Emily Blunt’s character, Kate Macer, who is leading a SWAT team across an Arizona desert and into a house where they suspect to find one of the Mexican cartel leaders, but end up finding much more than what they bargained for. Kate is a tough DEA agent who is determined to bring down the Mexican cartel. Once they arrive back at the station she is introduced to Josh Brolin’s Matt Graver, a superior who wants her assistance in catching the cartel leader who was responsible for the events that unfolded at the house. Graver has a suave persona, he may be in charge of the operation but he seems laid back with his flip flops and cargo pants. His right hand man is much more silent and mysterious. It’s Benicio del Toro’s Alejandro, who certainly seems menacing and is hiding something underneath his calmed demeanor. He is evidently a man who has seen and experienced a lot of things in life. Kate accepts the mission despite not being fully informed of what she must do and she becomes a surrogate for the audience as she tries to understand what these men are up to just as we do. Villeneuve keeps the audience hooked and engaged while taking us through the Mexican border an back again with some magnificent cinematography from Roger Deakins. Sicario is a brilliant film that maintains the tension throughout its entire runtime. My only complaint is that the second half isn’t as strong as the first.

Sicario is a film that should receive several nominations come Award time and I can’t see how Del Toro won’t be nominated for his superb supporting performance here. Although I must say that Brolin and Blunt are equally deserving for their work. Blunt is much more subtle in her approach as she has to adapt to this masculine dominated world and is constantly left in the loop of things. Brolin plays a character that he could play in his sleep with his suave and cool exterior, but he does it so well that it’s hard not to sympathize with him. Del Toro is menacing and his turn as Alejandro will be one of the most memorable characters of the year. He has some great scenes. It’s hard to avoid some comparisons with Zero Dark Thirty, especially the way some of the scenes were shot and how it focuses (although in a very different way) on two strong motivated female characters who are determined to accomplish their goal in a masculine run world. It also happens to be a very intelligent thriller that manages to tell a familiar story in a fresh way. Sometimes it’s not what you say, but how you say it that makes the difference and in Sicario Villeneuve manages to craft an engaging work of art. This is the Zero Dark Thirty of war on drug films. 

Fury (8/10): David Ayer's furious portrayal of the Second World War

“Ideals are peaceful. History is violent.”

When it comes to approaching war films, every director seems to have a certain agenda in the way they are going to portray it. David Ayer’s approach is summed up in that simple quote, delivering a war film that portrays the cruelty and rawness of war in a rather visual way. Ayer has had more misses than hits as a director, but if there is something he knows how to direct it is action set pieces. He may not be the greatest story teller and most of his characters aren’t developed at all, but when it comes to action scenes he directs them with great detail. Fury is at its best when it centers on the action and stays away from the dialogue and character buildup.  Very few war films have centered on soldiers fighting from inside a tank perhaps due to the physical constraints so in a way Fury is unique (unless you have seen the foreign film Lebanon which takes place entirely inside a tank). David Ayer isn’t the first director who has experimented with this, but he does deliver a solid and entertaining film with gruesome action scenes. Saving Private Ryan has changed the way films portray war, and Fury is one of those war films that has been influenced by it. I can’t recall another war film that depicts the cruelty of war in such an authentic and raw manner as Fury does. Fury is my second favorite film from David Ayer, but I still think End of Watch is his best. However, it’s a huge improvement over his previous film, Sabotage.

The characters in Fury are clichéd, we’ve seen them before in many other war films, but the action scenes are unique and engaging. Even Brad Pitt’s Wardaddy feels like a similar character from Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds without that heavy southern accent. The rest of the crew that Fury focuses on also play the usual stereotypes from numerous war films of the past. Logan Lerman plays the new boy who doesn’t seem to belong to this violent world, but who we will see transformed by the effects of war. Shia LaBeouf is the Christian soldier who will throw out a pair of Bible verses in between fights. Michael Peña is the wise cracking latino and Jon Bernthal the bully who is the hardest to sympathize with. These are the five crew members inside the Sherman tank that the film centers on. Despite not being unique characters and often quite dislikable, the actors give strong performances. Brad Pitt is great as the Sergeant, although at times his star power does get in the way. I still enjoyed his performance very much. Shia LaBeouf was a surprise as well, he delivered a credible performance. The easiest character to engage with was Logan Lerman’s, who delivered a surprisingly strong performance as well. The entire cast was solid despite playing clichéd characters. There is a sequence in the middle of the film that feels out of place and hurt the overall pacing of the film, but the final 30 minutes will have you at the edge of your seat again. It is intense. 

My Review: Grudge Match (4/10)

"You are planning on embarrassing yourself, Kid. A great performer knows when to leave the stage."

It's ironic that the characters Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone play in this film resemble pretty much their current careers. Both had a great run in the 80's, but they have made some poor career choices over the past decade (with the exception of De Niro's supporting roles in David O. Russell's movies), and this was another painful choice they made. I feel sorry for young audiences that never got to experience these two great actors in the peek of their careers, Robert De Niro's work with Scorsese being the true definition of greatness. It's rather unfortunate that their most iconic characters, Stallone as Rocky and De Niro as La Motta, are the actual ones that are being made fun of here. If made with grace I wouldn't have a problem with it, but there is no substance to this film and everything felt pointless. They banked the entire success of the film on marketing it solely on these legendary characters, but they didn't give it any substance. Grudge Match is lazy film making at its fullest and the talented cast is completely misused.

The premise of this film is pretty simple as it follows the general conventions of most sport comedies. A huge boxing rivalry took place during the 80's involving two fighters that hated each other. The first time these two men were in the ring together the victory went to Billy "The Kid" (Robert De Niro) after a long hard battle, but the rematch was easily won by Razor Sharp (Sylvester Stallone). The fans along with The Kid demanded one final fight, but Razor decided to quit boxing after his girlfriend Sally (Kim Basinger) had an affair with Billy that left her pregnant. Now 30 years later after a youtube video of a grudge between the two retired boxers goes viral, a promoter named Dante Slate (Kevin Hart) convinces the two to give the fans what they want. Razor finally accepts because he needs the money to help his trainer, Lightning (Alan Arkin), who in exchange also promises to train him for the fight. The Kid on the other hand decides to train with his son, B.J. (Jon Bernthal), who he just met. Sally also shows up asking Razor to forgive her for what she did. The stage is finally set for the grand finale between these two aging boxers.

There were very few genuinely funny moments in Grudge Match, but I wouldn't blame the performances. I still consider De Niro and Stallone to be great actors, it's just the material they choose to work with what I have a problem with. Director, Peter Segal, who is known mostly for his collaborations with Adam Sandler, doesn't seem to add anything to this film other than trying to capitalize on the two iconic films I've mentioned. The buildup for the final fight doesn't work either and the dull jokes don't help the pacing of the film either. Arkin and Hart have some funny lines, but they are just too spread out and way to few for such an overlong film. The film targets a senior audience, but I don't think they will be too pleased to see their beloved iconic films treated like this in such a poorly written screenplay.

My Review: The Wolf of Wall Street (9/10)

"My name is Jordan Belfort. The year I turned 26, I made 49 million dollars, which really pissed me off because it was three shy of a million a week."

How do you begin to write a review about a film that has so much things to comment on? The Wolf of Wall Street is an overblown energetic and hilarious film about these egocentric, greedy, immoral stockbrokers that we are supposed to hate, but ultimately end up rooting for because we have spent so much time laughing with them. These guys make Gordon Gekko from Wall Street look like a saint. Martin Scorsese is a genius; he can basically direct any movie he wants to and make it appealing. This is his follow up to Hugo (which was a brilliant family film) and he takes a 180 degree turn here with The Wolf of Wall Street and makes a comedy about these egocentric rich characters who have no moral boundaries, who spend their time getting high, objectifying women, and which should have been rated NC-17 because their excesses are constantly repeated over and over again on screen.  Many people criticize the fact that it's so long and overblown, but I think that's exactly the point Scorsese is trying to get across by repeating their excesses and debauchery. If there is one word I'd have to use to describe this film it'd be energetic. The film is so energetic and you get it through each one of the brilliant performances in the movie. This is a filthy dark comedy, but one that will stick with you and have you question yourself for having rooted for these characters. I understand the comparisons with Scorsese's Goodfellas in that the characters wrongful behavior is what we become attracted to and makes the film so edgy. I'm not supposed to root for these guys, they are the villains, they do terrible things, we are all their victims, but then why do we want them to get away with what they're doing? These are all questions that only begin to come up long after the credits have rolled and eventually you realize that these guys deserved far worse punishment and got away too easy (but wait that is what really happened with all these Wall Street stockbrokers that almost ruined the country), and that is why Scorsese is such a brilliant director because he is so subtle in getting his message across and does so in such an energetic and funny way.

The screenplay was adapted by Terence Winter from Jordan Belfort's autobiographical book about his rise to becoming a millionaire as a Long Island penny stockbroker. At age 22, Jordan (Leonardo DiCaprio) received early training from his boss Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey) and eventually gets a stockbroker license, but the company melts down on his first day and he's left in the streets again. His wife, Teresa (Cristin Milioti), recommends him a job at Investor Center, which happens to be a very unprofessional small establishment that only deals with penny stocks, but has incredibly high commissions. Jordan is a natural and pitches sales so well that he rises to the top easily again. One day a neighbor named Donnie (Jonah Hill) comes up to him and asks him how he makes so much money, which leads him to decide to get into stocks and work for him. The two find a garage and set up their own business bringing along some of their friends: Robbie (Brian Sacca), Alden (Henry Zebrowski), Chester (Kenneth Choi), Nicky (PJ Byrne), Toby (Ethan Suplee), and Brad (Jon Bernthal). Jordan teaches them how to pith the sales and over the years the company grows at a very high rate and even gets marketing from Forbes Magazine where Jordan is nicknamed as the Wolf of Wall Street. These guys don't care about their clients and will tell them anything just to make a sale, and do a bunch of illegal things along the way which eventually gets them into trouble with the law, specifically FBI Agent Patrick Denham (Kyle Chandler) who begins to follow their every move. Along the way in the midst of all the parties, sex, and drugs, Jordan falls for the beautiful Naomi (Margot Robbie) and eventually divorces his wife and marries her. The film continues to follow Jordan's excesses as he becomes more and more addicted to drugs, the most powerful of all being money.

Scorsese makes several great statements in this film about the world of Wall Street, similar to what he did with the gangster world in Goodfellas. He doesn't shy away from their egocentric world portraying numerous scenes where the characters are getting high, having sex, and getting rich at expense of the rest of the world. He also makes it clear that money is the most dangerous and addictive drug of all, and these men don't know where to draw the line. There are several scenes that truly stood out for me like the scene where Mark teaches Jordan what the business is really about, or when Jordan and Donnie meet for the first time, or when Jordan meets with Agent Dunham in his yacht. In the midst of all the crazy debauchery, these small conversation scenes work so well giving the characters more depth. There are also hilarious scenes like the one where Jordan and Donnie suffer from a delayed drug side effect, mixed with some very dark scenes as well like when Jordan has a huge fight with Naomi portraying him at his lowest point. The performances in this film are also incredible, Leonardo DiCaprio gives his best and funniest performance to date, the scenes where he gives his employees pep talks are mesmerizing, Jonah Hill is also at his best and has some extremely funny and insane scenes, they both truly deserve Oscar nominations for their work here. Matthew McConaughey is no longer a surprise, he has been exceptional in his latest films, but he has a very small role here, Margot Robbie gives an outstanding performance in a world where females are completely objectified, Rob Reiner is funny as Jordan's father, and finally Kyle Chandler also stood out for me as the only character who seemed to be morally incorruptible. They all bring so much energy to this film making the three hours go by fast despite being overblown and repetitive.

My Review: Snitch (5/10)

¨Every move I make or don´t make, Jason will have to live with for the next 10 years of his life.¨

Snitch is far from being a fast-paced action thriller like the trailers suggest. It is more of a dramatic thriller with some moments of suspense, but the film mostly takes itself seriously and moves at a very slow pace. The film is based on real events and in a way it criticizes the way America has handled its war on drugs. As much as I like The Rock (I think he´s incredibly charismatic and has made some great films) this role wasn’t made for him. He is good for action scenes or comedy, but I don’t think he was the right choice for a drama. This is the first film I´ve seen from director, Ric Roman Waugh, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Justin Haythe (Revolutionary Road and the upcoming Lone Ranger), and I wasn’t too impressed with his work. The film might be entertaining enough for a quiet night out, but it is completely forgettable. I doubt we will remember anything about Snitch by the end of the year because it is a very sluggish film. This wasn’t a very enjoyable film, but I can see fans of The Rock wanting to go see it.

After Jason (Rafi Gavron) accepts to receive a package of ecstasy sent to his house by his best friend Craig, he is arrested by the DEA who have set him up. Jason isn’t a drug dealer, but in order to get a lighter sentence, Craig decided to trick Jason into receiving the package. The DEA offer Jason the same bargain, but he refuses to set anyone up and therefore is sentenced to prison for 10 years (which is the minimum mandatory sentence for this offense). When his estranged father, John Matthews (The Rock) hears about the news from his ex-wife he decides to help out. He makes a bargain with the District Attorney Keeghan (Susan Sarandon) to go undercover and make an arrest so his son can have his sentence lowered. With the help of DEA Agent Cooper (Barry Pepper) and an ex-con employee of his named Daniel (Jon Benrthal) he is introduced to the underworld and begins taking huge risks for his son. John is willing to do what it takes in order to get his son out of jail.

The plot is pretty simple and the film feels authentic and true to life at times. The risks that The Rock´s character takes for his son are believable, but I thought that several things resolved themselves rather quickly for a film that was trying really hard to take itself seriously. I was disappointed with the final 15 minutes of the film, and the dialogue was a little too preachy. I had serious issues with the pace as well. I also thought there were several unnecessary action scenes involving shaky camera work (especially during the chase scenes). The film fails to really tackle the social issue it tries to raise at the beginning of the movie and by the end you feel like you are watching yet another forgettable thriller. I still give the film a little credit for at least mentioning the issue at the beginning of the film and trying to make us aware that we seriously have to change the way the DEA handles sentences for first time offenders.  

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