A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This is a thriller wrapped around Colombia's infamous drug baron Pablo Escobar. If you remember the fact that it's all fiction and suspend your logic for two hours it's an OK movie for its genre. As most of other reviewers put it Benicio Del Toro does a phenomenal job in his portrayal of El Patron although I don't know if it was a true characterization with all details of his personal traits. This is because at times, Del Toro seemed to give too much depth to a ruthless killer. However, the real problem is with Josh Hutcherson who looks like a miscast for his role especially in the second part of the movie involving suspense and action. Indeed, Josh's worried, sad puppy face reflects the true emotional state of a normal person who is involved with the drug kingpin whose track record is decorated with the murder of thousands. The same character, however, looks too wimpy to pull all the action, hence the ambiguity in the cast. With his indecisive, unconfident and overwrought appearance, Josh is not believable at all to play a person who'd get into a cat and mouse game with professional murderers which ends up with a gunfight. Indeed, despite the suspense, most of the subplots involving action scenes were glossed over and far from credibility. For example, it is not clear why the national security forces were so quick to collaborate with his henchman to search for Josh when they had been so busy with tracking down El Patron prior to his decision to give himself in. But for a person who wouldn't nitpick about such fine details, the movie is entertaining enough.

There are good movies and bad movies. This one to me is pathetic. Non sense, slow, it isn't the story of Escobar. Boring from the begin to the end with some scenes that you cannot believe have passed the quality check of the director. Really suggesting to the director to change job, maybe agriculture would be better.

In 1991, Pablo Escobar (Benicio Del Toro) is preparing to surrender and go to jail. He gathers his supporters including Nick Brady (Josh Hutcherson). He has a special assassination mission for Nick. A few years earlier, Canadian brothers Nick and Dylan Brady are building a surfing camp on the coast. Nick falls for local Maria. After being extorted by local thugs, Nick gets help from Maria's uncle political leader Pablo Escobar.Benicio Del Toro plays Escobar as a charming family man with a monster underneath. He shows that he would be great to play Escobar in a biopic, just not a biopic about a short Canadian surfer. Josh Hutcherson still looks like a kid. His character is hopelessly naive and white toast. His relationship with Maria has limited heat. I can't even tell how long they've been together. His child-like smile doesn't help. He's a kid getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar. It's a sideway method of taking on the iconic drug lord's story. The last act does have some thrills but they are always undercut by Hutcherson's shock and Canadian nice-boy sensibilities.

Not Wanting to Make Another Crime Lord, Major Drug Dealer Movie, the Creative Team for This One Decided to Go for the Young Love Element as a Contrast to the Brutality. It Doesn't Work. The Appeal of Both Stories is Lost Somewhere Between Paradise and Hell.Up Front, Benicio Del Toro is Perfectly Cast and the Bland, Blank Looking Josh Hutcherson Does His Best to be Bewildered and Frantic, but Mostly the Movie is a Major Disappointment with a Modicum of Insight and Intrigue.The Romantic Angle Fails to Convince or Impress and the Cartel Created Here is Half-Baked and Hardly Takes Advantage of Gangsterism Anti-Hero Glare. Sure, Escobar is Hero-Worshiped by the Peons (much like Capone in Chicago) Doing what Amounts to "Soup Kitchens" to Misdirect and Seduce the Populace.The Film Tries to be Something Different and was a Good Attempt but Doomed by the Lack of Amalgamation Needed to Make for This Experiment to Succeed. It is Much Harder Doing This Sort of Thing Than Talking About Doing This Sort of Thing. The Movie Manages Some Suspense in the Third Act and is Worth Watching for it Finally Develops Into What Most People Expect from the Genre.Ultimately it Fails to Combine the Two Ingredients and Maybe there is a Great Movie to be Made with This Sort of Story, but This Isn't It and is More Frustrating than Informative or Entertaining.