Again, I have to comment because I disagree with the comments already made. So the essence of the film is this: They're right here. On the plane, in a cafe or bar, in a bus, in a hotel room, in a nearby car at the intersection, at a friend's party, at a border checkpoint, in a forest park, etc. Anywhere, but that's where you live. A detached, emotionless narrative only enhances the horror of the world in which this infection lives. There are barely noticeable connections in its structure, but they are strong because of the rotating sums. This activity involves a variety of types of people, with a variety of background. It must be fought, but it is impossible to win, like crime in general. Sounds like a simple idea.
You can exhale - another movie with Cage really watch to the end and not fall asleep. In fact, “Race with the Devil” is an interesting and not banal movie, in which everything is done at a budget, but still high-quality level. For the directorial debut was very tolerable. The story about the spread of drugs from the United States to South America is chewed in great detail here. The plot and settings are very similar to Scott’s controversial Counsellor, but with much less naturalism. It seems that the movie was shot by a person who knows the situation “from the inside”, because no wonder someone Jason Cabell is a former military man. Forever sore for the states theme is presented realistically and even slightly provocatively, in the spirit of Oliver Stone’s films. But there is nothing shocking about the film – we are just shown a few days in the lives of people involved in drug trafficking – from big bosses to ordinary sixes. As soon as one of the duri supply routes begins to fail, one of the bosses instructs two of his devoted dogs to sort out the situation. They are the heroes of Fishburne and Cage. Both venerable actors, unfortunately, are decently divorced in the plot and unite only towards the end of the film. Hero Cage turned out to be the most adequate character in the film - a kind of strategist from the world of crime, solving all problems without the slightest emotion. But Fishburne here played one of the busiest roles in recent years. His Man is a truly collective image of a bandit obsessed with sex, drugs and murder with particular cruelty. By the way, the plot here is not trivial and is able to offer the viewer a couple of interesting surprises. And in general, from the “Races...” came quite an interesting thriller honestly showing the underside of the criminal world. No morals and remorse of the characters - only the cruel world of dark business, watching which you believe that something like this is happening in reality. However, with all the above joys in the end can not get rid of the feeling that the movie you are not particularly hooked. Why? First, because of the lack of dynamics. The abundance of storylines and the almost complete absence of action at the end is a bit tiring. In addition, these lines are broken in the middle. It is not clear what prevented the director from concentrating on the central characters rather than piling them up in such large numbers. It is these factors that prevent the film from moving from the category of an optional passer to the category of a memorable movie, which you can later review with pleasure or advise someone. Another controversial stop in the career of Coppola's nephew, without which it is quite possible to do, but it is not necessary to spit when watching. For the state of his current career, Nicholas is already an achievement.
6 out of 10
Illegal business always brings a solid profit to those who are involved in it. The lack of tax controls, the ability to distribute goods and services without any third-party costs, and a vast customer base allow dealers to replenish their bank accounts with billions of dollars annually. However, it is necessary to understand that the banal smuggling of alcohol and cigarettes will not bring true power and fabulous capital to shadow businessmen. No, of course, there’s a lot of money going on in this area, but it’s never going to match what the illegal arms and drug trade has to offer. In particular, the latter is a profitable idea, because as sad as it may be to admit, however, modern society is mired in dependence on prohibited drugs and having fallen under their influence, it is very difficult for a person to deny himself the satisfaction of forbidden desires. And it is not surprising that such business flourishes not only in the third world countries, but also in the United States, Canada, England and other territories with excellent economic performance, because where people have money, prohibited goods always appear and the demand for them is likely to never disappear. Of course, the authorities of the United States, Canada and other developed countries spend serious resources on the fight against drug trafficking and other types of illegal business, but so far it is not possible to cope with this problem. And since this problem continues to be relevant and is spoken about not only in the media, but also on the street, at home or in the company of friends, filmmakers are happy to pick it up for their entertainment purposes. And one of the directors who decided to take on an extraordinary but popular topic was Jason Cabell, who directed a film called 'Running with the Devil' also known as 'Cocaine Baron'. And despite the fact that Cabell is far from the most famous director, his idea was able to interest quite influential producers who were able to assemble a high-profile cast led by Nicolas Cage on the set. And although the actor has long been not in the best creative form due to participation in numerous dubious projects, this time he did not fail, playing well in a film that may not become a classic, but will not disappoint.
So, the plot of the film originates after a special operation was carried out in Mexico by law enforcement agencies, during which influential criminal structures of Vancouver lost a large batch of drugs. It is natural that the head of the underground organization Boss (Barry Pepper) can not leave such an incident without his attention, as there are great risks that the next delivery of expensive goods will be disrupted. To understand the situation and take appropriate measures, the long-time assistant Boss, Cook (Cage), who tries to act extremely carefully and once again does not hurry to demonstrate his connections and skills to others, is involved in the case. For others, the chef is just a restaurant owner and a family man, but he earned his true capital thanks to cooperation with the Boss and now is not able to refuse him even at the slightest request. Looking for a trail of possible traitors who could trace the police to Boss's cocaine, Cook eventually finds himself in Colombia, where he begins a thorough investigation. However, the situation twists in such a way that its binders stretch their roots straight to distant Seattle, where lives another important hero of this story, namely the Man (Lawrence Fishburn). He also works for Boss, but his personality and preferences are radically different from the life priorities of the family restaurant owner. The man does not mind dabbling in drugs, his company is often seen as girls of easy behavior and generally he behaves quite defiantly. Trying to play on the side and act beyond the vigilant look of the Boss, the man repeatedly brought serious trouble to his head and in the end special agents came on his trail, which does not add much joy. And gradually the storylines of the Chef and the Boss unite, because in fact they are two halves of a single whole. And now the heroes have to solve all the questions and finally choose how to act, because in this situation, not only cocaine, but also their own lives are at stake.
Before going to the cinema and becoming a director, Jason Cabell served in the special forces, performing dangerous missions in different parts of the world. Over the years of service, he collected a lot of intriguing materials for his further work, and therefore after leaving the army, some of his stories decided to adapt for screen production. And it is quite logical that in “Cocaine Baron” we see certain details from the personal experience of the director, which came in this production as well as possible. However, for all the moments that bring the story closer to reality, it is necessary to understand that the “Cocaine Baron” is still more a work of art, not a documentary. Therefore, we cannot say that the story of the Chef, the Man and the Boss pretends to be a special drama and tells us the stories of real criminal showdowns. Jason Cabell is really only inspired by his experience, while his film itself belongs to the category of entertainment and you can even find certain references to the works of Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez and Guy Ritchie. However, Cabell’s dialogue is not as bright as his colleagues, and there is still a lack of experience. Of course, “Cocaine Baron” was not the first experience of the director in the field of cinema, and nevertheless he still did not have time to get used to writing a catchy, bright, memorable text for his heroes, and he did not want to take co-authors as partners here so that he did not share his fame with anyone.
Of course, the film also has other problems that cannot be ignored. Disparate storylines are not the best way to combine with each other, in the frame there are superfluous, lifeless characters that are needed only to at a certain moment they are effectively thrown out of the frame. All this leaves an imprint on the perception of history, and yet several intriguing scenes with shootings and chases, interesting arguments about drug trafficking and the dangers it represents, as well as the play of Nicolas Cage and Lawrence Fishburne save the production from failure. You can see that the director was full of intriguing ideas, and some of them he brilliantly implemented. Of course, he had mistakes, and many, but they can be attributed to inexperience and the desire to put the film on their own, without someone else’s pointer. It was far from perfect, but very interesting and Nicholas Cage for some time in his place.
6 out of 10
One day my eyes fell on the announcement of a new film with Nick Cage. I was happy to share the venue with Lawrence Fishborne. In my head was a story about forced friends. So they get in an old pickup truck, they get into conflict, and then they push the gas pedal, and they go on a long journey through the backwaters of the United States of America, exploring the business practices of small cocaine dealers. Along the way, as usual, they will kill someone, walk into a bar, and kill again. Fishbourne/Cage is like manna from heaven after Nicholas' recent films. Southern story about sixes of old age. Buddy movie in b- movie. Actually a nugget in the genre. But, as usual, by the way.
The director undertook to create, taking as a foundation the theme of the highest layers of drug exports. That’s right, the story begins directly with the initial stage of transporting the powder, and even earlier, with the manufacture of it. A detailed diagram is shown from the beginning, and everyone involved in it. I mean, it's like you're six, but you're higher in rank, and it's not their job to check the outlets. Specifically, this pair is responsible for product quality control. Only the Cook almost goes crazy with routine, and emotional burnout, and the Man is responsible for the heavy bodily, and other violent element. And the task before our guys is oh what a difficult one, to identify those who dilute the goods with a low-quality potion, because of which the clientele naturally tramples the land with itself.
With Cage in his arsenal, making his character an emotionless, callous neurotic is unwise. Nicholas a priori overplays, and if you give him freedom of action, the film will shoot proportionally. But, Fishborne was instructed to joke, and again it turns out directly proportional, since Lawrence does, in fact, what you expect from Cage. Near the end of the film, Nicholas began to reciprocate Fishborne, giving untapped potential for collaborative scenes. And again, all his attempts to crook look sluggish. That's why Lawrence is pouting for two.
It is not clear what happened, associations with binge drinking, and endless spending come to mind. Or Nicholas is just tired.
And it is not clear why it was swinging to the height of a serious thriller, to announce as a criminal comedy, but to emphasize the internal problems of sales, drawing inspiration from your own imagination. I'm talking about fentanyl-diluted cocaine. Such a scheme is absurd in itself. And if the creators claim to be true, why is this fact so zealously emphasized? To emphasize the drama? Look how cynical this business looks. But cynicism can be identified by revealing the character of the main characters. Everything is secondary and therefore does not deliver. It is difficult to watch the film as a comedy, more suitable ' Another modern film with Nicholas Cage.' Still, it was necessary to shoot, according to tradition, in New Orleans, referring to comedy without a hint of drama. The serious message unfortunately killed both the film's potential and the film itself.
It’s not often you watch an actor get out of control. The phrase can be understood in two ways, but both of its interpretations refer to Nicolas Cage. His golden days are long behind him, each new film is worse than the previous one, rare projects like Mandy do not rule his career, so you have to star in projects of not the highest quality. “Cocaine Baron” can hardly be called an outright criminal thrash, although the film is not the best kind. The fact is that this grim movie is far from a bloated, stylish crime movie; it's more of a boring procedural about how it turns out it's not easy to trade white powder. An inert and almost dead film could well have come behind the documentary, if, of course, strange directorial decisions were not applied.
Nick Cage plays, um, Cook, a pizzeria owner who is actually a kind of errand boy for a cocaine baron nicknamed Boss. And then there's the Man, a black narcotics ski, who distributes the product on the street. The man mixes cocaine with fentanyl and heroin, well, to make some cool mix. There's also a responsible agent who's trying to stop all this brethren. The boss gives the chef the task of finding out who the snitch is in their gang.
The trick of "The Baron" is that it's a film about drugs from the point of view of drug dealers. This is not the best way, however. It would be cool and stylish to show how many people are involved in this disgusting process. Unfortunately, that is not happening. The characters here are incredibly cardboard and it’s not even the lack of names. In their actions and decisions there is no moral weight, and in their actions there is no conflict. And the problem is that drugs are a very emotional topic and the cold tone of the narrative just ruins all the drama. If in the plot drugs were replaced by weapons (which, again, suggests the idea of the “arms baron”, which refers to the name in the Russian box office), then the concept of the scenario would not change.
In this obvious thriller, so much is mixed up that many plot elements soon become white noise. Characters do not evolve and do not look like individuals. Generally and with the start, "Baron" is bad; it seems the film doesn't start properly until the 30-minute mark. Action bursts are rare and not satisfying.
Of course, "Baron" comes to life the moment Nicholas Cage and Lawrence Fishburne start interacting on screen. They do have a connection. On the other hand, the plot excuse seems forced, especially in connection with the final plot twists. Attempts to do anything with the characters should be praised, but she “Barona” does not pull.
The crime story reveals the details of the drug business, but the Cocaine Baron tries to be smarter than he is. The script simply ignores the characters of the process and the dark irony. History lacks style; The Cocaine Baron came out too dry. Suddenly, only the cold-blooded Nicholas Cage stands out - while he tries, his colleagues on the set disappear into their images, consisting of their monosyllable nicknames.
5 out of 10
The theme of the “great combinators” of the past, actually existed or invented, called time after time, the most skillful smugglers of all time, recent years have received not what the green light in big and small cinema, but is experiencing a certain renaissance.
After the serious and uncompromising “Narco” and moralizing “Triple Border” from Netflix, cheerful “Made in America” and “Guys with Guns”, as well as the unpretentious but underrated “Gold” and fabulous “Hana Solo” – I enthusiastically followed films with similar themes that could please me under the curtain of 2019.
And finally, the project called at the box office as “Cocaine Baron” (the true name of “Running with the Devil” – here apparently in localization and a direct reference to the sister of 2005 played two things – Cage in the lead roles and Mendelsohn in the producers) came to me as a balm for the soul, as a massage after a difficult day, where the body relaxes, and the mind opens the necessary boundaries for the perception of new intricacies in the affairs of smugglers.
The viewer is presented not only an interesting story, but also thorny and dangerous, let the movement of prohibited goods.
You are amazed at the scale of smuggling the “white death” across two borders and the rise in the cost of the final parcel from $ 1,600 to $ 34,000, accompanied by strict and uncompromising rules of the game.
The film is very qualitatively shot, and undoubtedly the presence of such mastodons as Nicholas Cage (well, who doesn’t know him) and Lawrence Fishburne (Morpheus of all cinema) gives charisma and strengthens the whole straightforward narrative of this picture, once again proving that uncles (who are long over 50) still have enough gunpowder for good performances. And if we take into account the fact that the creators were much easier to buy on the black market real AK instead of expensive shams, then this story immediately plays with completely different, rich and daring colors. Still, "Cocaine Baron" does not hesitate to play "Arms". In reality!
“Cocaine Baron” will be able to leave indifferent those who love chic dialogue, dynamic events, stunning quotes and moderately dosed and appropriate action. If you like stories about smugglers, about noble and not very noble criminals who will be able to tickle your nerves with twisted intrigue and dashing action, as well as mafia showdowns and the hard life of drug dealers, which is not complete without smuggling, these films are for you to watch.
And remember, drugs are the lot of weak people. Endorphins can be obtained in excess and from sports and love, reading good books and other aesthetic pleasures. Please don't be like that. Appreciate and love life.
There is no person who has not heard about the dangers of drug use. Drug addiction refers to socially significant diseases. Drug use harms not only the health of the drug addict himself, but also causes social and economic harm to the society in which the drug addict lives. Once you have tried a drug, a person becomes dependent on it for the rest of his life, first there is a mental dependence, and then chemical. Due to the peculiarity of the disease, the drug addict experiences a constant strong desire to use the drug. It is clear that in this state, a person can decide on illegal actions, up to murder, to obtain a narcotic substance or money for its purchase. In some cases, drug addicts killed for money, their close relatives. The worst thing is that by committing these crimes, drug addicts fully control and realize their actions.
And no, in order for the creators to raise or at least identify the problem, they in their creation decide to concentrate on the usual narrative of the story, depriving themselves of the opportunity to evoke various emotions in the viewer. The monotonous tempo is reduced to the simplest stylistic enumerations of events, behind which stands the history of the delivery of goods through the titanic efforts of workers. Each performs his or her work and forms an integral group for the sale of prohibited goods. And let the film represent that is a juicy mix of five genres, but in fact this product is more like a documentary-biographical picture, carrying only a cognitive function about the journey of “powder”.
Only the final managed to accelerate enough and present an interesting development of the final path. But even this was badly broken under the yoke of underwhelming drama. Where you have to have certain feelings about characters, you don’t want to do that. From the first minutes, the film is confused and convulsively tries to capture many stories at once. A huge overload of personalities prevents the novice director from concentrating on one thing. Neither the “cook” nor the “man” gets the attention they need, although everyone has a reason to do what they do. Therefore, the two characters around whom the main line revolves remain assistants to the leader of the cartel in the eyes of the viewer.
This is by no means a stone in the garden of two wonderful actors of our time. Nicolas Cage and Laurence Fishburne did not have to play very difficult roles in this film. In the images of the eternally serious and concentrated “chef” and pathetic burner of his own life “man” they entered well. But over the course of the film, they had only one strong emotional scene, towards the end. And this irrational use of masters again brings questions to Jason Cabell.
To counter the raging organizations for the production and sale of narcotic drugs, special services were sent, the purpose of which is to exterminate all this evil. Only in the course of the film, diplomatic law enforcement agencies do nothing but prove the opposite. All their “methods”, the rules of decency (the heroine, feeling that she ceases to control the situation, turns into a boor, allowing herself antics in the form of unceremonious insults and spitting next to the offender) and the moral aspects of the issue only prove that they themselves are no better than those criminals with whom they are fighting. A perfect example is also the final scene, where a lady, falling into despair, commits a crime for which she is not ashamed.
“Cocaine Baron” is a dummy film that is not only incapable of its own moralization, but also experiences serious problems from an entertaining point of view.
P.S. On the example of the presented product, a system of markups was amusingly demonstrated. Each transportation or additional processing carries significant increases in price before reaching the buyer.
A large load of cocaine is shipped from Mexico to Canada via the United States. However, at the scheduled time, he does not stay at his destination, but is lost in the vast territory of America. The resentful leader of the drug cartel Boss is indignant! There is an incredible mountain of money missing. He sends his faithful chain dogs - Cook and Man - along the way of the goods with the task of finding out at what stage of transportation the rats appeared in the cartel and decided to abandon the Boss. The hunt begins.
With the light hand of our localizers, a film called “Dancing with the Devil” turned into “Cocaine Baron”. Of course, because Nicholas Cage is playing here, and the main plot of the new film is very similar to Cage’s previous work, only they replaced weapons with drugs. But you know, this time I agree with our translation. It immediately becomes clear what will happen in the film and what to expect from it. Get the right attitude at the very beginning - watching the film turns into a good pastime watching a decent action movie that has a slight flair of nostalgia.
The aging stars of the militants, in the person of Cage and Fishburne, are happy to show that they still do not spoil the furrows, and row deeper. This sweet couple has so much knocking energy, so much charisma, that you enjoy watching the film, despite all the failures of both the first and second. And an excellent inclusion of adult humor (where necessary, without knocking down the degree of narration), make this screen duet worthy of getting into the future tops of the baddy-movie.
But it's not the same old people. There is a truly diverse cast here. There is a guy from Twilight, a bearded man from Saving Private Ryan, a hero from Breaking Bad, a charming beauty from Iron Man and a frightening actor from The Kennedy Clan. Yeah, I could tell you their names, but they probably won't tell you anything. But when you see them on the screen, everything will fall into place. And all this wild gang also plays with great pleasure, not a drop or crooking and not playing over their sleeves.
The film turned out to be moderately action, moderately comedy, moderately drama, moderately Cage's attempt to prove that he still can, in moderation Fishborne's attempt to prove that he is not Morpheus at all. The director Jason Kabbel, who shot for us a great series “The Mentalist” managed to professionally withstand the bar, when the film lacks the deliberate bombast that is inherent in the militants of the level of the last “Fast and Furious”, but the film has an interesting story and a good game of actors, which puts the film not in the category “B”.
To me, the film is absolutely in its genre, it has its own grateful audience and I’m sure it can be recorded in the successes of Cage, who continues to walk on the edge. I liked it.
The original title of the film is "Running with the Devil," but I think "Cocaine Baron" suits him better. All the same, analogies are immediately made with “The Baron of Arms”, one of the best films with the participation of Nicholas Cage, and the producers of the new film were directly related to the old one: at one time Michael Mendelsohn directly worked with Andrew Niccoll on “The Baron of Arms”, and this, like it or not, is a sign of quality. So the continuity is felt immediately.
As for the problems with the drug trade, they have been repeatedly played out in Hollywood movies, and something tells me that it will not become less relevant in the near future. If you look at official statistics provided by US law enforcement agencies, several hundred tons of banned drugs from Latin America are smuggled into the country every year. Of course, they are trying to fight this, but the risky business is so profitable that criminal syndicates have continued and will continue to do it, and films on such topics are regularly shot.
The plot of the new crime thriller “Cocaine Baron” revolves around two guys, “The Cook” and “The Man”, who work for the “Boss” and try never to ask unnecessary questions. They are professionals in their field, kill only those who are necessary, once again do not litter and get good money for this. But the next task “Boss” becomes a serious test for the guys.
While waiting for a large shipment of drugs to be delivered to the destination, the Boss suddenly realizes that his goods have been pawed. Someone found out about the transportation and made sure that the right people did not get anything. Naturally, the “Boss” does not like this and he sends to deal with the situation of “Chef” and “Man”. There seems to be nothing critical, everything has been worked out according to a long-term scheme and shotguns will definitely help in the case, but not everything is so simple. Not only are annoying defenders of order wandering around, but competitors do not sleep at all. And find out which one is more dangerous.
The film itself turned out to be dynamic, spectacular and sharp. I can’t say that we haven’t directly seen anything like this, but lately there are rarely really tough action films in the cinema that are not afraid of bold artistic decisions. In addition, finally pleased that Nicolas Cage found an image for himself and invested in it to the full program. Lawrence Fishburne looks a little less spectacular next to him, but it is difficult to compete with Cage in principle if he has become angry.
In general, I note “Cocaine Baron” as a dynamic and brisk film that gives us exactly what we want. Mass shootouts, crown phrases, chases and Nicholas Cage will make the viewing both fun and tense.
7 out of 10
The difficult path of drugs from South America to the United States is a rather popular, widespread and actively exaggerated topic in the film industry. First of all, remember the strong film Steven Soderbergh “Traffic” in 2000, as well as “Miami police”. Vice, The Gangster with Denzel Washington, Particularly Dangerous and Counselor. There are plenty of movies.
Jason Cabell’s film tells about the path of drugs from the depths of South America to the States through a mass of intermediaries and couriers. This conveyor begins with scenes of making drugs and demonstrating a kind of family contract, after which the business flywheel of drug trafficking is unwinded to its fullest and the viewer sees what a “difficult path” even a small party is making. Interestingly, the distance from one transshipment point to another is considerable, and as soon as the party overcomes it, its price immediately increases, and significantly. This is an interesting move of the director - he shows a kind of cost of the product and with the help of the titles appearing on the screen shows the viewer how the same product is valued in different conditions. From a handicraft manufacturer, goods can be bought at cost, but further - the more kilometers it winds, the higher the price becomes.
The film can attract the attention of the viewer by selecting actors. Yes, Nicolas Cage will not surprise anyone, but with him there are Lawrence Fishburne, Clifton Collins Jr., Leslie Bibb, Barry Pepper, Cole Houser and Adam Goldberg. That’s just for all the interesting theme and actors who played in the film, “Cocaine Baron” does not reach the same “Gangster” or “Traffic”.
Yes, the film is interestingly built - it's fun to watch the journey of the cargo, to assess the scope of the drug dealers' activities, how many people they have under their control, how the cargo crosses the border and in what ways, how it is quietly followed by the escorts who are tasked with controlling so that the delivery was without problems. But! The Cocaine Baron has too many unnecessary elements that distract from the main topic. The storyline of the hero Fishburne and his family, the pleasures with two prostitutes of his character, as well as the sex of one of the couriers with a night butterfly, an episode with mother and children at school (I personally was not interested to learn), translating the story to a homemade drug factory, the murder of police officers on the road (you could achieve the element of surprise without revealing to the viewer that the checkpoint is not real cops) – all this and a number of other episodes weaken the film, filling the plot with unnecessary and insignificant for the main topic things. The director decided to show traffic - so show it! Add a little adrenaline to the story and try to make it interesting for the viewer to watch the whole road! The example of the same character Lawrence Fishburne could show a man who is not averse to becoming richer, working in parallel for the boss and for himself, but it would be worth limiting his “professional” activities, and not to get inflamed for his pleasures and personal problems. His left part-time job could be shown much more spectacularly, not to expose him as some pathetic idiot-thug.
The relationship between the heroes of Cage and Fishburne was deprived of drama and the necessary emotional intensity, due to which one of them would be given this or that decision with incredible work! The two partners looked too bland and unnatural, and so did the cops. Against the background of such a difficult path of drugs, the exit of the police on the trail of criminals looks too playful and simple, depriving the film of intrigue, because you want to see not only very smart drug dealers, but also very smart policemen, especially since one of them had a personal tragedy just because of drugs! This storyline was touched only slightly and in fact went into the load to those moments described above. Although on this personal tragedy, the director could walk thoroughly to show the intransigence of the policeman (who suffered the loss) in the drug case. To show his determination to stop once and for all the flow of white death into his country, into his city, into his street. But this was lost and obliterated by the inconspicuousness and expressionlessness of the script, as well as the indifference of the actors who did not show even half of what they are capable of.
Domestic distributors decided to hype on Cage and remembered the film of 2005 – “The Armory Baron”, apparently trying to attract the viewer with another bright title, the film “Race with the devil” or “Running with the devil” was transformed into “Cocaine Baron”. It's more than strange, because if you look at the poster of the film, you can see Cage and Fishburne. But neither are cocaine barons - they are performers, not bosses. The leader is played by a completely different actor, who did not find a place on the poster. Thus, the name in the Russian box office does not justify itself at all. But if the film remained “Running with the devil”, everything would fall into place, because Nicholas Cage just plays so that he can be called the devil – he is calculating, cold-blooded, attentive, cruel and irreconcilable.
But look at you. I do not impose my opinion on anyone.
We were given an interesting story. Thorny and dangerous let the movement of prohibited goods, namely, the established scheme of production and transportation of drugs from the producer is revealed and, bypassing numerous transit stops, gets to the final consumer with an indication of the cost at each stage, starting from the farmer to the end point. There are many obstacles on the way of the cargo - police, special services, bandits, everyone wants to join what costs a lot of money or hinder the established business.
If the clock stops working, then a small detail changes in the mechanism, about the same thing happens with the distribution and sale of drugs. Very detailed everything was filmed, in a rather unusual form. We can say that the entire mechanism has been audited. No wonder the cost of the final product, its path is colossal. It is also not surprising that such traffic exists and is not suppressed, because it includes many influential players.
Watching the movie is very interesting. Great picture, a lot of movement, special effects, camera work, a rather rich plot will not let you get bored for a second. There is no tightness, which is very important in such tapes. The storyline catches at once without any hints or prefaces. There is a feeling that this picture ripened in the head of the director for a long time. He didn’t want to share his idea with the audience for a long time. It was as if he wanted to be the sole owner of the idea. It’s a joke, but as everyone knows, there’s only a small part of a joke in every joke, and everything else is true.
The film will intrigue immediately. Initially, when the person watching the picture only delves into the essence of the film, not everything is clear, but the events are so well arranged that willy-nilly the brain itself tries to put everything together. The path is not easy, because in this complex criminal scheme it is absolutely impossible to predict what will happen next and how the characters will cope with the problems that arise in their path. Because of all this, watching the movie was doubly interesting.
Despite the fascinating course of the film, I was a little tired of watching it. I was expecting more dynamism, more shooting and more action. Instead, we're shown an even narrative of a criminal story. I was very good at changing from watching an action movie to a crime drama, which is probably why I’m not disappointed. And even though the film bore me a little, it is impossible to take away what it captures with its directness and feeling that it really is. Bad things happen right under our noses, but we either don’t notice them or don’t want to notice them, preferring to think about ourselves. A variety of people are involved in this business, someone internally good, and someone a scumbag, but they are all ready for anything for the sake of profit.
I'm not a big fan of movies like this, but I'm hooked. The scheme by which transportation took place seems simple, but at the same time it is incredibly complex. Every cog, every element of this mechanism plays with fire, one mistake, and you ruin your life. Can you think about what drives people into this drug business? Of course, money, but everyone has plans for it. Someone simply cannot feed a family, living in a dysfunctional place, and someone simply loves power, dreaming of buying it with money. Whatever the goals, but suffer in the end people who are weak in spirit, addicted to drugs and trying to solve their problems. We have clearly shown how guilty and innocent people have to pay for this. A complex story that is so relevant in our difficult time of being.
The actors enjoyed their work. Finally, Nicolas Cage managed to really please with his brilliant work, his charisma as if saturated with the whole film, played 100% great. Lawrence Fishborn surprised me a little, I did not expect him in such a role, a narcissistic and licentious bastard. His actions a couple of times raised questions like, "Oh, what are you doing, Lawrence?" However, the role coped well, it is difficult not to admit it. Also in the film involved varying degrees of success actors — Barry Pepper, Clifton Collins Jr., Peter Facinelli, Cole Houser.
The result was a real crime drama in all its glory, to some extent probably even documentary. I'd call it elegant. Inconspicuous at first glance, the movie eventually turns into an honest and hard tape, the creation of which has been worked quite well. It's hard to make a claim to someone on the crew. The musical theme is also quite cheerful, the situation does not spoil. But the most important thing is the atmosphere, it is beyond the limits of this film. South America is presented truthfully and naturally. The authors of the tape did not try to make up something or make it more beautiful, all the dirt is shown as it is. This is a dirty movie about a dirty business, and the movie turned out to be of the highest quality.
8 out of 10