Review: ‘Sicario’ shows us the war that the ‘War on Drugs’ has become

Posted on October 9, 2015

By MARK VIOLA

It’s been more than 40 years since the phrase “War on Drugs” became popularized during the Nixon administration. And it’s been a long time as well since those words stopped being a pithy saying and became a literal war, especially south of the border in Mexico, where people are being killed in the tens of thousands.

There have been plenty of movies dealing with all angles of the drug wars, but few, if any, have had the feel of a true war movie like “Sicario.”

The film is directed by Denis Villeneuve, whose riveting 2013 movie “Prisoners” narrowly missed my Top 10 for that year. He brings the same level of tension and dread to ‘Sicario,” which is a fascinating look at the consequences of this war, on both sides of the border and both sides of the law. The quagmire is such that when all of the chips are finally on the table, the horrible truth almost seems reasonable, or at least defensible. Which is downright scary.

Although the script–from first-time screenwriter Taylor Sheridanm–suffers at times, the film is buoyed by Villeneuve’s direction and two excellent lead performances from Emily Blunt (“Edge of Tomorrow”) and Benicio Del Toro (“Guardians of the Galaxy”). Cementing the whole project is one of the best musical scores I’ve heard this year and possibly in several years, from composer Jóhann Jóhannsson.

“Sicario” is a strong war thriller, even if it’s not about the wars we typically think about these days.

The film is rated R for strong violence, grisly images and language.

(This is a shortened version of the full review available in our printed or e-edition papers.)

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