What Keith's Watching: Sicario (2015)

Sicario is apparently a word that means 'hitman.' It's also a word for a really good movie that leaves an impression. It's disturbing, unnerving, tense, and real. The movie highlights what's happening in Mexico in areas affected by the drug cartels, with unnerving realism, and how that bleeds over into the United States. It also presents a very interesting picture of America's War on Drugs and to a certain extent - the futility of that war.

Throughout the movie, I had a hard time really comprehending what was going on. I wasn't clear on who wanted what, or what the goals really were. Nothing seemed quite right. And it's supposed to feel that way. Our avatar in the movie is Kate Macy played by Emily Blunt who gives a great performance as she is thrown into a world she wasn't quite ready to deal with. There are a lot of lies, half-truths being told. We only find out what's really going on when she does. It's easier for her story and tie us to reality.

Benicio Del Toro gives a great performance as a character you're really not sure if you like or not. There's a lot to that character. Things happened to him. Not things like his dog died when he was four, I mean that some serious shit happened to him. And while he eventually find out what that shit was, Benicio carries it in his performance throughout the movie.

Sicario isn't a movie to watch for fun. It's not a good movie to use as an escape from reality. It's immersed in reality. I made this mistake of watching it in the morning on a day off and it followed me for the rest of the day. That proves great filmmaking right there. When a movie's themes and tone are so strong that they linger in your brain. The images find those little corners and hide there only to pop out a few days later to remind you how fucked up things are.

That's Sicario. A word that means 'hitman,' great film and put in a weird mood the rest of your day off.