Director: Ridley Scott, Main Cast: Michael Fassbender, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, Brad Pitt
Cormac McCarthy’s second attempt as a screenwriter leaves me with mixed feelings. It’s a dark tale of choices and consequences, somewhat between a Shakespearean tragedy and a Coen’s film. Michael Fassbender is our anti-hero, involved with unsavory people due to his profession as a defense lawyer. He decides, out of need and greed, to enter the risky but highly remunerating business of drugs with the help of two longtime associates (Javier Bardem and Brad Pitt), who are quite savvy when it comes to dealing with Mexican drug cartels. Someone else’s greed and fate will throw a wrench in his plan and tragedy will ensue. The dialogues and all the scenes with the main characters are more suited for a play than a movie, so much that the stunning cinematography, typical in a Ridley Scott’s film, seems wasted. There are gruesome deaths and a very cynic view of the world but the film lacks conviction about its grittiness, maybe in the hands of the Coen brothers we would have seen something grimmer but more cohesive. Anyway the acting is top-notch and it is a pleasure to watch. —7/10
Ramblings of a cinephile 