Dreadful waste of some fine actors

Rating: 3/10 (27 January 2008)

This is an interesting illustration of the often astonishing difference between the parts and the whole. The film has some spectacular cinematography, the charming presence of Tommy Lee Jones, a nice gritty performance by Josh Brolin, but all of this is in aid of a completely pointless film.
The brothers Coen have managed to turn Javier Bardem, an actor with the ability to show real subtlety when given the opportunity, into a cartoon character. The notion that this performance is worthy of an Oscar nomination is a frankly discouraging commentary on the state of Hollywood cinema; menacing zombies really don't require much range. Mar Adentro was an Oscar-worthy performance; this is just embarrassing.
I'm willing to sit through a fair amount of blood and gore, as long as I can nourish the hope - however faint - that it will lead somewhere, that it will make some commentary, that there is something to be learned from it, that there is some kind of idea that drives it. This film does not begin to deliver on any of these promises. I am entirely unconvinced that it's much of a revelation to be told that large wads of cash corrupt, or that there are some salaried psychopaths in the dope distribution industry.
Through the course of this overly-long film, the audience alternates between boredom and disgust, with occasional interludes of admiration for the technical details of the film-making. If the film itself had been up to the standard set by some of its parts, it would be worth watching. Unfortunately, it's not.