Somewhat lacking

Rating: 6/10 (24 July 2016)

If you watch this movie, be prepared to slog along painfully through the first hour and 10 minutes. I guarantee you will be rolling your eyes, shaking your head and saying to yourself, "What nonsense!" more than a few times. After that first hour plus, then, and only then, does the movie begin to come together a bit and make even the slightest bit of sense.
Emily Blunt, one of my favorite actresses, is sadly miscast here. She's too pretty, too fragile and too damn out of her element. And smoking cigarettes is so passé. Emily was great as the action hero in "Edge of Tomorrow." Her oily biceps, her determination, her lithe and limber athleticism were terrific. She really sank her teeth into that role. Awesome.
In Sicario, she and the viewer flounder around like beached fish dying from lack of oxygen and in search of relief or release. The script has Emily ---and her audience--- asking and asking "What the heck is going on?" It gets REALLY boring, hearing her ask this over and over.
At that point midway through the film, things kind of sort of start to coalesce for us all. Kind of. Eventually, Benecio del Toro magically morphs into the real protagonist. Things move along nicely. And there's a wonderful bit with that big, hunky guy from Walking Dead. His acting just gets better and better.
However, don't expect any real catharsis here. And by that I mean the "emotional relief" of knowing that you learned something or solved any kind of life mystery. You're not even afforded the gift of being entertained . . .not much anyway.
Don't expect any kind of understanding of anything at all. Benecio takes care of business with his usual aplomb. Emily attempts to act, at the end, like she's going to find some meaning in "it all." There is no revelation. Neither she nor her audience feel satisfied. One is left hanging. All one learns is to not hang out on balconies. That should come in useful.
What I can say this movie did for me was to teach me to stay far far away from Mexico and the border, Far far away. But I think I knew that already.