Great cast, but lots of flaws in direction. Interesting storyline. Not a great film.

Rating: Null/10 (6 January 2016)

I had high hopes for this film which is winning awards and getting some Oscar buzz. The cast is amazing and the storyline is very interesting. However, there are some very gross flaws in the direction and characters in the film that caused me to give it a 7 (maybe even a 6) out of 10. The handful of great moments of intensity make it worth a 7, but this is not a best picture nominee. Without giving away any spoilers, I can say the following: THE BAD:
* Emily Blunt character does (or fails to do) what you expect she would. She fails to ask questions or show some basic skills you would expect for someone in her position. * She is not believable in her professional or personal behavior. We don't really get her. Yes, she's conflicted, but there are 4-5 times where it makes no sense. * The story gets confusing and convoluted. Who are they going after and how and why and how does it all work out. Beyond implausible, it's like they edited 50% of the film away and left us with some gaping holes. * Governmental agencies are jumbled and confusing to an absurd level. * A few action scenes are absurd. * Random locations with random people where you do not know who they are nor why they are there.
What I love about feature films in theaters is the level of realism, acting and storytelling is generally FAR superior to any TV show or movie. In this case, the director handles the character development and action scenes more like a TV movie. The cave scene being the most absurd and the main character (Emily Blunt) feeling like a poorly written TV character.
Benicio and Josh Brolin have their moments of greatness, but their characters are too gruff to care much about them. There is another storyline about a Mexican police officer that is also poorly developed.
THE GOOD: You will feel like you understand the complexity of the Mexico-US drug crisis. For those who feel doing illegal drugs does not harm anyone, this movie will give you a clear picture of the dangers to society and the corruption that exists along the border. Clearly, we have major issues that must be addressed.