Despite the rather stupid movie title, Escobar: Paradise Lost is a damn good film. It's very suspenseful and realistic. The only implausibility in it is that the Canadians who set up shop on a beach in Colombia are so whimpy. I doubt anyone as whimpy as these characters would have the guts to leap right into the middle of a jungle ruled by cocaine cartels like that. But luckily the two whimpiest of them don't have a lot of screen time and the main protagonist, who starts out pretty whimpy and who falls in love with Escobar's niece, while always giving surprised and stand-offish looks to the goings on around her that should have raised everyone's suspicion right from the starts, slowly progresses into kind of a bad-ass by the end; and although it's no trek through FarCry 3, his transformation from a helpless victim into someone who finally stands up for himself has a great momentum that pays off in the end. Benicio del Toro is nothing short of superb as Escobar, ominously talking in riddles behind which are his murderous intentions. The cinematography is also superb, giving this film a similar feel to any number of classic gangster films. But the best part of this film is that it skips all the Hollywood clichés. There's no happy ending for anyone. It's as pessimistic as The Counselor. Nobody is spared the cruelty, not even the children. There's no walking away into the sunset to live happily ever after. It's the real deal, a portrait of what happens when evil gains ultimate power and convinces itself that it is good.
Review of Escobar: Paradise Lost
