Sicario

Sicario follows FBI agent Kate Macer as she joins a team of Delta Force operators who are attempting to hunt down the people in charge of a Mexican drug cartels. Led by an adviser for the Department of Justice, Matt Graver, they begin operations in Mexico in order to draw the leader of the cartel back into Mexico. No more than about half an hour or so into Sicario we find our main characters on a mission to retrieve someone from a Mexican prison and transport them back to America. Everything has gone smoothly picking him up, but on the way back to the border they notice someone following the convoy in order to report on their movements, and not long after they find out that the border crossing is backed up with traffic. Sitting in the traffic jam, they slowly notice cartel members in other cars, but the voice in their ears tell them that they can't engage until they are engaged - so they sit in their cars, waiting for the cartel to make the first move before an intense burst of gunfire and violence over a matter of seconds concludes the confrontation. It's the kind of scene that leaves you breathless, a master class in building tension that makes you think 'Wow. Nothing this film can do from now on can top that'.

Kate acts as our sole viewpoint throughout the majority of Sicario and like Kate, we end up unsure about why things are happening or what might happen next, but the mystery Sicario tries to create isn't intriguing enough to serve as a narrative and the eventual reveal is so inconsequential that I don't know why Sicario bothered to hide it from the audience in the first place.

Additionally (and I'm going to preface this by saying that it might just be me that feels this way), Kate as a character doesn't really have an effect on the way the film progresses, and that bores me. She has no agency within the story, partly due to the aforementioned way that she kind of has no idea what is going on throughout, but also because of the way that at the end of the day she is simply being used by the team for jurisdiction rights. The way that Sicario progresses is through things happening to her rather than her making things happen, and if I'm being honest I expected more from a film with Emily Blunt - with or without her, almost all of Sicario would have happened the way it did, to the point where it begins to feel like Sicario should have chosen a different main character.

The film is otherwise incredibly well made, with stellar performances from the entire cast, particularly Benicio Del Toro, gorgeous cinematography courtesy of Roger Deakins, and a handful of intense scenes. Director Villeneueve is worth keeping an eye on, someone who manages to blur the line between art house cinema styles and mainstream appeal incredibly effectively, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he does next. I wouldn't recommend Sicario to everyone but I enjoyed it for what it was.

Concussion

Concussion, the true story about one doctor’s discovery of CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopothy) among athletes in the NFL, is a film to be admired, if not loved. With performances from Will Smith as Dr. Bennet Omalu, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw as his wife Prema, the gripping narrative explores one man's fight to be understood and respected. Whilst at times the depiction of the public and corporate backlash Dr. Omalu endured is unsettling the film makes necessary steps towards shining a light on the power the NFL has over the nation and media. Director Peter Landesman’s interpretation of the NFL could be perceived as a harsh generalization of an organisation focused on making money above all else, but ultimately his film is directed towards the NFL with with aim of making further changes in their regime. And sometimes, a jarring portrayal is more effective than an attempt to keep both sides happy.

From staged news conferences and phony medical advice to enlisting the F.B.I. to investigate his superior and friend Dr. Cyril Wecht, played by Albert Brooks, the National Football League sought to undermine Dr. Omalu and his colleagues, discredit the existence of CTE, and downplay the deadly nature of concussions. It would sound like a conspiracy theory if it weren’t all true. Brooks lends his signature sense of humor to the role of Wecht, a man who backs up Bennet’s crusade every step of the way, even when wary of the inevitable consequences. Despite a hit or miss southern accent, Alec Baldwin is especially effective as Dr. Julian Bailes, a former team doctor for the Steelers and an unlikely friend in helping Omalu combat these mounting obstacles. Smith gives his best performance in years as Omalu, a forensic pathologist at the Pittsburgh coroner’s office whose work is almost undone from the beginning when Steelers legend Mike Webster, played by David Morse, arrives in the lab. He is considered Patient Zero, the first known death due to CTE, and Omalu’s co-worker nearly derails the whole autopsy on the misguided basis of respecting his hero’s body. 

The pace of the film was at times confusing. Landesman moves things along a little too fast, utilizing overly kinetic cinematography and tired visual tricks to add immediacy to a story that’s already ripped from the headlines. Fake zooms, hokey freeze-frames, and CGI renditions of real-time concussions only distract and potentially undercut the message he is trying to convey. It’s not dissimilar from the sensationalist editing techniques found in Discovery channel crime documentaries. They might be eye-grabbing to some, but they render everything less authentic in the process. It’s important that Concussion preaches to more than the choir, and while occasionally amateur direction gets in the way of that, Will Smith’s commanding presence and a true story that’s hard to deny ensure this film succeeds in doing so.