This is the dilemma for FBI agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt), a disciplined and ambitious kidnapping investigator, as she is recruited by higher-ups to join a secretive operation to take down a major Mexican crime cartel. Early in Sicario, Alejandro (Benecio Del Toro) tells Macer, “Nothing will make sense to your American ears.” And the deeper she gets into the mission, the truer those ominous words become. Sicario means hitman in Spanish. And from the jump, we wonder not only who the hitmen are, but what side they are on.
While working in the Phoenix area, Macer is approached by Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) to help cross into Mexico and lead a covert operation to arrest one of the kingpins in order to draw the cartel into the open. What she doesn’t know, however, is exactly who her new partners are. Department of Defense? DEA? ICE? CIA? Macer’s sense of duty, and her goal of making the big bust and ruining a primary crime syndicate, draws her deeper into the mission. She ultimately must decide how far she is willing to stray from the law, as the body count rises and the objectives become less clear. Macer has seen the brutality, lost colleagues, and fought the good fight. But this is a war that seems to never end, and Macer learns that her place in this complicated, international puzzle is not only a small one, but perhaps a futile one as well.
While Blunt is the conduit for the audience, the true stars of the film are Brolin and Del Toro. They are mysterious, yet sharp. Dangerous, yet charming. And because they are so good, sadly, Blunt seems to get lost in the background throughout key points in the film. She simply isn’t given quite enough to do, and her personality is not as magnetic as the guys’. Blunt fulfills the role admirably, but even during the film’s climax, she isn’t able to stand out. It’s not her fault; after all, she’s written that way. In a film that could be a great vehicle for a complex and tough female character (akin to Silence of the Lambs), the boys end up taking over.
There are good action sequences, particularly a traffic jam shootout at the border crossing that is brilliantly shot and as breathtaking as any three-minute scene on film this year. Cinematographer Roger Deakins uses his extensive experience shooting rugged, desolate landscapes (No Country for Old Men, True Grit, Fargo) to showcase the barren hills and deserts of the southwest. And the score hits all the right notes, as pounding orchestration provides great tension throughout the film. Overall, director Denis Villnueve’s film looks and sounds great, but it is not all it could be.
There are visual and thematic echoes of Traffic and Zero Dark Thirty here, but Sicario doesn’t quite live up to those excellent films. It is Macer’s lack of agency that finally underwhelms. Macer is a version of Ed Exley from L.A. Confidential—young, talented, and in over her head. However, in that film’s conclusion, Exley is able to become fully realized as he solves the ultimate problem of the film—how to find a way to justify his actions. Macer does not do that. And that’s why L.A. Confidential is a great film, while Sicario is merely pretty good. Sicario has great potential, and it does elicit important questions regarding the role of law, the cooperation between nations, and the practicality of choosing between evils. “The devil you know...” comes to mind by the end of the film. Moral ambiguity may be realistic, but it’s difficult to make into good cinema. Sicario is a good film, but like its protagonists, it is far from perfect.
Grade: B