SICARIO (2015) – My rating: 8.8/10

Sicario has gotten a lot of buzz as an Oscar front runner. The movie deals with a Mexican drug cartel, the FBI (International and Domestic divisions) and other law enforcement agencies. Sicario is brutal and shows us drug enforcement from a different perspective. Deceit and dangerous procedures, along with cleaver legal maneuvers were incorporated to achieve common goals. Admittedly, whatever we’ve been doing in the past has been an unworkable disaster. The amount of drugs coming into the US, via Mexico, is astounding. In Sicario, several FBI agents come together to break the pattern and make a difference, even if they all are not on the same page.

Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) and her partner Reggie Wayne (Daniel Kaluuya) have been going through the same routines with the same results — rounding up a bunch of dead hostages and victims of the drug war while the drugs are safely smuggled into the US. In the opening scene, over 30 bodies were discovered within the walls of a small house along with a bomb in the backyard that kills two officers. A big operation with little payout for the team. When Kate’s boss, Dave Jennings (Victor Garber), recommends her to Matt Graver (Josh Brolin), a CIA Special Activities Division officer who is undercover as a supposed US Department of Defense adviser, Kate volunteers to join forces, eager to make a difference. Their goal is to search for the men responsible for all those dead bodies and the murderer of the two officers, which includes cartel boss, Manuel Díaz (Bernardo P. Saracino). While on a plane to El Paso, Texas, Kate meets Matt’s partner, Alejandro Gillick (Benicio del Toro) who plays a major role in Sicario. She begins to learn that things are not what they seem and definitely not what she’s been told.

Sicario breaks all the rules and is intense, violent, bloody, thought provoking and well acted. The story is deep and demands your attention every step of the movie. As usual, I’ve left out most of the story, as not to spoil it — I think Sicario has been under the radar for the most part. You should try to see it before it goes away. It’s worth seeing on the big screen.

[SICARIO is nominated for Cinematography, Original Score and Sound Editing]