Shockingly depressing, too cynical

Rating: 4/10 (26 November 2007)

*Spoilers ahead!*
My wife and I saw this movie Saturday morning. We were totally bewildered and depressed when we left the theater. My wife was actually very upset. I had a time calming her down. Unfortunately (for this movie), we saw the movie "Freedom Writers" later that afternoon. That movie also starts with a bit of violence, but then continues on toward sweet, sweet redemption. I've liked some of the Coen brothers work (no pun intended), but this movie is clearly too dark and cynical to be believable.
It may be truth, but it's only a 1/2 truth since the war on drugs was not "finished" in the 1980's, and is not over today. There have been battles won on both sides, and evil men like the antagonist in this movie come and go, but mostly die in the wars they seem to thrive on. We all know there are sick people out there, but at the end of it all, if they wrote it to have something incredibly random happen, then why didn't they just kill the bad guy at the same time? I would have at least felt good walking out of the theater.
Bad job Ethan and Joel. Bad job.