What must it be like to wake up as Benicio Del Toro, put on a nice suit or SWAT gear and be ready on set. He’s not so much an actor as someone who is gifted to have ‘the look’, the dark, brooding, borderline sinister resting face.
Or Josh Brolin? Who only needs to add chewing gum and swagger to deliver sarcastic gold.
For that matter, in ‘Sicario’, directed by Denis Villeneuve, Emily Blunt, who merely needed one pained expression throughout the 2 hour movie.
I’m not saying ‘Sicario’ is worthless. Our Mexican drug lord concern has been over run by our fear of you know who, and yet the fat lady hasn’t hit the stage to sing the ending to the drug war. It’s just that we have a short attention span and would prefer to simultaneously inhale network fear mongering mixed with Trump extremist chastisement for wanting to allay said foreboding.
What’s redemptive about ‘Sicario’, a wonderful supporting role by Daniel Kaluulya, whose last name makes me want a White Russian. But seriously, his role as Emily’s ‘brotherly’ co-worker was the most nuanced role of the film.
The other outstanding feature was the sound. Both explosions and suspenseful music seemed to stand out, perhaps due to the banality to the plot and acting, or maybe because it truly was unique.
But the the topography and travel overload (here’s a google map, here’s a plane ride, here’s a car trip) are not appropriate substitutes for character development and emotional resonance.
