The Silence of the Mules

Rating: 9/10 (17 February 2016)

Maybe the reason Sicario didn't do so well at the box office or nominated for more deserved Oscars, such as Best Screenplay, Acting and definitely, Picture, was because of how bad the title is. I can barely pronounce it, unless I look at it, or even remember the title. In fact, when I went to go to recommend this at work today to my friends after seeing it for the first time last night, I had to Google it each time.
I get what the word means: hired assassin, and it does, very appropriately, fit into the movie. But, that doesn't stop it from failing to get the great word of mouth it truly deserves. I mean, c'mon people; this is a great movie!
From moment one, the movie looks gorgeous. It's so beautifully and carefully shot, it better win one of the (only, gasp!) three awards it was nominated for: Best Cinematography. What further grabbed me was the story began in Chandler, Arizona, a Phoenix suburb close to where I work, of all places, and not the obvious choice of Arizona's largest city and capital, Phoenix, itself. That's so cool.
Beyond the location and immediate intrigue – this movie wastes no time getting into an extremely interesting story, the high quality acting and direction are immediately present. Emily Blunt blasts onto the screen with a character and acting ability that makes us quickly emerge into her world.
Blunt's FBI agent, Kate Macer, is recruited by some incredibly confident "secret government agents" that convince her she'll be helping them catch the drug lord(s) who are terrorizing her home of Phoenix (and suburbs) especially after the location mentioned above – a Chandler, Arizona home – practically blows up with a trap set by the drug bad guys.
Not without a conscience, Kate is baffled on how the real war on drugs is fought and alongside her even more suspicious partner, she questions and attempts to do the right things to get convictions and build cases against the czars while her new leaders pretty much act all Jack Bauer in Mexico and here against the baddies.
There's more, much more, as this onion gets pealed, and I'll leave all that up to you to see for yourself. As you should. In fact, go seek out this movie now and see the greatness for yourself.
This movie is absolutely intense and raises so many ethical questions. It's easy, and common, for me to say, YES, do law by the book. Heck, I even have previously built a case against the vigilante, The Batman, on how he always breaks the law every time he leaves the Bat-Cave. But, all the way through this, and seeing the grotesque scenes in Mexico, I found myself sometimes siding with the "Super-cops" Kate is internally battling and at other times, agreeing with Kate's morals.
Now, without giving away the ending, but keeping with the same point, I have to wonder if I chose the right side. That said, or not said I guess, I LOVED the ending. Even though the movie is fiction, we're usually left with the twist and ironic ending. No, I don't usually like those, but generally respect the writers for doing what they thought right. THIS was how I wanted it to end and made it all the more enjoyable.
Definitely should've used a different title. I bet that would've gotten the word out more and more people would've seen such great efforts all around.
***
Final thoughts: My friend and professional movie critic named this as his favorite movie of 2015 and called it the horror police procedural "The Silence of the Lambs" (summing up his words.) Well, like I stated above for the title, I've never heard of it, but taking both his word on the best of 2015 and him comparing it to my favorite movie of all time, The Silence of the Lambs, I had to see it.
And yeah, it was kinda like The Silence of the Lambs. Totally can see that. So, thank you, Kevin. Glad I finally listened to you.