Not since The People Under the Stairs have so many bodies been stashed in the between spaces of a house. FBI Agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) leads a SWAT team raid in a Phoenix suburb and while her would-be assailant misses her head, he does take out a section of the drywall which has quite a surprise behind it. Several crowbars and an explosion later, thirty-seven dead bodies are revealed. Now, I’m no real estate agent, but I do believe that’s gonna bring down the resale value of the house.
And thus begins Sicario (which actually means ‘Hitman’ in Spanish), a film which had the courtesy not to sugarcoat anything about shredding a Mexican drug cartel and those pesky laws that badged enforcers are supposed to adhere to. Kate is our guinea pig; she was sold on the question, “how would you like to get the guys who [stashed dead bodies in walls]?” and follows Matt (Josh Brolin) blindly to the border and beyond. I mark this as Brolin’s first good role since W. … and it’s about damn time; I have no need for the Everest/Sin City 2/Labor Day Josh Brolin. Despite Brolin’s toolBush, he makes a much better spider than fly.
One private jet, a mysterious Colombian (Benicio Del Toro) and no answers later, Kate finds herself in a warehouse filled with men who live to put bullets in other men. Kate’s not a big fan of mushroom soldiering, but hey, greater good. AmIright? Oh, did Brolin mention “El Paso?” Silly man, he meant, “Juarez,” of course. That’s over the border, where the FBI has no jurisdiction. On the plus side, they get to use the Cartel Kingpin Retrieval enforcer lanes for the border crossing. No stopping as long as you’re bringing two or more enforcers back.
It’s not like we haven’t seen Sicario before, or at least parts of it. It skims the disturbed feeling of The Counselor and the vigilante lawlessness of Sabotage, but bests both of those iterations on the theme by picking a heroine much closer to
what we’re thinking and feeling. “yeah, we want to get the bad guys! Look at the awful shit they do! … Does it matter that I’m not being told anything? Well, kinda … Hey, we’re totally ignoring the law here. I’m liking this less. A lot less … And what am I doing here? They’ve already got enough firepower and leadership to take over a small country. I’m no longer sold on the mission here. Hmmmm …”
Sicario was also a nice role for Benicio Del Toro, who –barring the possible exception of Traffic—I have not enjoyed since The Usual Suspects, which is now far too long ago.
Across the border can make one weary
Dispatch with the root is the working theory
Justice one feigns
Lawlessness reigns
‘Course, “across which border?” one might query
Rated R, 121 Minutes
D: Denis Villeneuve
W: Taylor Sheridan
Genre: Damn the Constitution, just get it done
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Border patrol
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: ACLU
