Sicario—Movie Review

Sicario

by Peter J. O'Connell

Sicario. Released: October 2015. Runtime: 121 mins. Rated: R for strong violence, grisly images, and language.

In Sicario many borders—legal, moral, psychological—are crossed, not just that geopolitical line in the sand between the United States of America and the Estados Unidos de Mexico.

The film, directed by Denis Villeneuve and written by Taylor Sheridan, begins with a bang, literally, a big one at that, in a chaotic raid on a drug lord's house in Arizona, a raid that reveals an appalling discovery. The raid is led by Kate Macer (Emily Blunt), a young and intense but by-the-book and somewhat naïve FBI agent. Frustrated by what she sees as lack of success in the war on drugs, Kate agrees to be the FBI connection on what is described to her as a special interagency task force aimed at bringing down Mexico's Manuel Diaz (Bernardo P. Saracino), the king of the drug lords.

Sandals-wearing Matt Graver (Josh Brolin), the head of the special team, which includes military operatives back from Afghanistan, has a vibe that is a mix of surfer dude and tough guy. He shares few details of the mission with Kate. Even more mysterious is Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro), a Mexican who functions as Matt's right-hand man, but also seems to have his own agenda.

The team sets off, supposedly for San Antonio, but at El Paso suddenly crosses the Rio Grande into Mexico, where, theoretically, they have no jurisdiction. Yet they make a dramatic entry into Juarez in their black vehicles. Accompanied by truckloads of Mexican police, they race through slum streets and over speed bumps, for all the world as if they were in some Middle Eastern hellhole instead of just a few miles from the U.S. Juarez is hell enough, however, for naked bodies hanging from hooks are on display in some neighborhoods.

Various interrogations in Juarez conducted by Alejandro—Americans leave the room when he enters to conduct them, carrying a water-cooler bottle and, apparently, having an open fly. What Alejandro does—whatever it is—seems to produce results, and a raid on Diaz using one of the kingpin's own tunnels under the border—becomes a possibility.  

The tunnel, like the borderline itself, also functions as a metaphor as Kate struggles to burrow into the  dark heart of all that she has witnessed and extract some moral meaning from it. Kate is intended to be the center of the film, the surrogate for the audience. Unfortunately, she is a bit too naïve and idealistic to be a completely convincing character. This is no fault of Blunt, a talented actress who does what she can with what the script gives her. The problem is with what the script gives her.

The characters of Matt and Alejandro, as expertly performed by Brolin and Del Toro, are fully convincing, however. This is especially the case with Del Toro, who manages to do something that commands attention even when he seems to be doing nothing.

Director Denis Villeneuve has attracted attention in the past for such films as Incendies (2010), about the Lebanese civil war, and Prisoners (2013), a revenge drama. Such works of his have been dubbed “thoughtful thrillers.” Sicario can be placed in that category also.

One of the outstanding features of the film is its cinematography, by Roger Deakins, Oscar-nominated 12 times, though without a win. Maybe Sicario will prove a lucky 13^th. It certainly deserves to. Whether it's sun-bleached landscapes, blazing sunsets, fluorescent-lit rooms, or dark tunnels, Deakins' work is superb. It's particularly striking in a drive through a border area where that fabled fence of controversy has actually been built. Deakins alternates close views of the fence with aerial views of the vast, arid landscape that it runs through. Memorable, too, is that thrill ride through the crowded, colorful streets of Juarez. But the entire movie could, one supposes, be described as a thrill ride.

“Footnote” to the film: “Sicario” is Spanish for “assassin” or “hit man.” The term comes from the Latin “sicae,” meaning small daggers. Such daggers were used in the first century C.E. by members of the Jewish Zealots movement to slay Roman officials and other supporters of Roman rule of Judaea. So many assassinations took place with these weapons that laws specifically referencing them were passed. Eventually, the term entered the Romance languages.