Sicario: An Exercise in Tension

I caught Sicario last night, Denis Villeneuve's latest.  The Québec director first made his mark with the Foreign Language Oscar nominee Incendies.  He followed that up in 2013 with the small scale Jake Gyllenhaal starrer about identity (Enemy), as well as the big-budget kidnapping thriller Prisoners.  He has a stalkerish theme running through his films, and Sicario isn't any different.  There is the hunter and the prey, though the general outline acts as subterfuge to the specific motivations of certain characters.  And it doesn't hurt the film with the drug war as its main subject, the mechanics of which are often convoluted.  I knew going into this I would get lost rather quickly (though I did keep up for longer than I anticipated before falling behind).  But, in the end, it doesn't really matter, as agendas surface and things become rather suddenly simplified by the end.

In short, Emily Blunt plays FBI agent Kate Mercer, who is enlisted or, er, asked to volunteer, for a drug bust, which is sold to her on false advertising.  Through the film, she unearths layers of truth masked by a variety of smokescreens.  Also in the solid cast is Benicio del Toro (the title character, which means "hitman" in Spanish), Josh Brolin, Victor Garber, Jon Bernthal, Daniel Kaluuya, and Jeffrey Donovan.  Blunt anchors the film with her questioning heroine.  I'm happy to finally see her take on a bigger role in a respectable film, but I'm now left waiting to watch in The Girl on the Train.  Brolin has a good time being unaccommodating; and del Toro delivers a well-modulated performance.

The script itself clips along and touches on certain truths about the drug war (the amoral choices that are made in game with few rules; supply and demand; etc), and offers interesting characters.  But, it's also mildly problematic as the main plot spoiler has unfortunate, even if unintentional sexist overtones (not to mention it's awfully convenient), and the revenge tale the movie becomes reduces one of the most engaging characters as incidental.  It's not something I would say mars the film that gravely, but it did leave a disappointing aftertaste.  Whatever the case, Villeneuve provides tight direction coupled with Roger Deakins' efficient and sometimes evocative cinematography.  Jóhan Jóhannsson's minimalist score also adds a foreboding quality.  I left the theatre wondering just what kind of film Villeneuve could make when the perfect script falls into his lap.

As far as Oscar chances, I don't see this as much of a player outside of cinematography.  Perhaps if the film grosses $60M+, we may start discussing Sound Mixing/Editing.