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Created Jul 29, 2013 08:49PM PST • Edited Jul 31, 2013 03:52AM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Good 3.0

   Salma Hayek on the loose is worth the watch but this tale of unfortunate and violent prosperity is an interesting twist on the influence of romance and friendship on a sad issue of our day. Two best friends enter the dark world of drug trade, become a target for a buyout, receive an offer they apparently can’t refuse but do and then run-off like Abby Hoffman with a modern day Twiggy. Of course the movie is set to the temperament of The Shield and produces some great scenes that capture the entire crux of the problem with drugs in our society. The movie in the end is important because it cements the role for a generation of the stereotypical Mexican “mob” guy and rather effectively illustrates how the level of accountability in the drug world has escalated to the immediate family of all those involved. So now, when you drive by gated private residences of Latin nationals, you know why.

4. Acting

   Good 3.0

   It takes an unimaginably bad script for a cast stocked with Hayek, del Toro, and Travolta to miss the mark entirely. What is a sad fact for a lot of actors is the ever growing list of actresses who will be whining to their boyfriends about “why does Jennifer Lawrence get all the great parts”.

5. Male Stars Good 3.0

   Benicio del Toro plays the top enforcer for a cartel led by Hayek and finally sets the cement in my mind on a genre of characters much the way De Niro, Pacino and Pesci et. al. did for mob flicks. This time he is the bad guy, older now with the sun glasses, the wire mop of hair and a twisted sense of Latin honor. His scene with Travolta’s character at the end seeking to learn the truth about who ratted who achieves the goal of not only drawing a great moment from him, but also his lone counterpart in the scene. The mark of a great actor, Benicio will stay on my list of actors to watch.

6. Female Stars Good 3.0

   Salma Hayek has been on my spare wife list since Cheryl Tiegs stopped posing in swimsuits and since her efforts on SNL to garner an OSCAR. While most of us dream to be in arguments with her on which half of the bikini should she wear that day, I have enjoyed watching her take on a surprising diversity of roles that challenges her. In role as Lado, the matriarch of her dead husband’s cartel, she makes an honest effort deserving of more opportunities in the future. Salma is a serious actress and has made it in Hollywood. Her dinner chat with O and her instruction to del Toro’s character to execute the framed informant really is a strong effort in translating the vast ground Latin culture travels in most moral terrains.

7. Female Costars Good 3.0

   Blake Lively plays O in the movie and we can only hope she was taking notes and believes all the standard drool from actors who claim it was such a great experience working with such and such. It must have been but I agree with Salma, “do all Americans talk like this?”

8. Male Costars Good 3.0

   Most of the spotlight might be directed to Taylor Kitsch (Chon) and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Ben) who are on the long list of hopeful co-stars with Jennifer Lawrence, but to me the effort by John Travolta caught my eye. Look, it isn’t a reach to have him play a DEA agent named Dennis. John Travolta can play a complicated like-able corrupt guy all day long, mail in the praise. But again, we find him in a scene with the starring actor taking chances, reaching in the dusty recesses of our moral constitution and manifesting it into a product that sharpens the moment and the story. How many times has he done that? From the “he touched my hair!” scene in Saturday Night Fever, to the “Who am I talking to?”scene in Get Shorty he just elevates movies as long as anyone has in the business. While it is true that del Toro was in the scene and responded with a cost-plus performance himself, the trend is clear, Travolta still has his moments.

10. Film

    Good 3.0

    The global economy gives way to the informed global recognition that the movie captures the essence of the story. Dreary places are dreary places, violence is violence and both are shown well here in the movie.

11. Direction Good 3.0

12. Play Good 3.0

13. Music Good 3.0

14. Visuals Good 3.0
15. Content

16. Edge

    Horrid 4.2

    Only The Shield prepares you for some of the things you see in this movie and still I cringed. But credit also must be given for the depiction of the opulence and insular nature of the DEA agent and cartel head.

17. Sex Lewd 4.5

    Could have done more with the rape scene with respect to reinforcing the violent setting of the movie.

18. Violence Monstrous 5.0

    The torture scene of the informant is as gruesome as you can see and still not expel your popcorn.

19. Rudeness Profane 3.1

21. Reality

    Surreal 2.6

    Seems surreal to me…but I have no piercings or tattoos.

22. Circumstantial Surreal 2.6

23. Biological Surreal 2.6

24. Physical Surreal 2.7