Sicario

Significantly up from the previous viewing. Back then, I was way too interested in solutions to complex problems. I now would say that such solutions would play as little more than trite, Hollywood nonsense. Unsurprisingly for Villeneuve, the film is a taut thriller (that border crossing scene is excellent), with a sharp visual sensibility and impressive use of music throughout. This film portrays darkness on both sides of the drug war (unsurprising that the film climaxes in the darkness of the dusk and tunnel), while highlighting the powerlessness of the law to make a real progress toward stopping the war. Matt mocks lawyers early, Alejandro has left lawyering behind, they both treat Reg as a nuisance or an obstacle, and all the while Kate's attempts to make cases are continually thwarted. The people fighting the war have (immoral) clarity. It's only those seeking to uphold the law that continue to dwell in the haze.