Sicario

#StokerScore 9/10

Slow-burn movies are those that while taking their time to get where they're going never forget to take the audience with them. If director and screenwriter get it right, then the experience is often one of the best of movie experiences. The brashness that many action movies rely on, the goriness of horror movies, the sentimentality of dramas and romantic movies, all are worthy traits but think of those movies that seemed to draw you in and then take you along with story rather than set pieces, that's the domain of the slow-burn movie and which can also apply to most of those other forms of movies I just mentioned, if done right.

I'm sure you have a favourite or two? A few years ago, struggling to decide on a movie to watch I bought Trade starring Kevin Kline. It was the story of sex trafficking between Mexico and the US and the movie just seemed to keep getting better, partly due to the chemistry between Kline's off-duty policeman and Cesar Ramos as the brother of a kidnapped girl. I remember at the end that I sat back, satisfied that I'd been told a great story, accepting that life isn't fair and definitely NOT needing a sequel. Don't misunderstand me, the characters that Kline and the others were playing weren't unlikeable, it's just that the story was told. End of.

This week I got to see another little gem in the form of Sicario. Starring Emily Blunt and Benicio Del Toro, who I last saw together in the much maligned The Wolfman, the cast is augmented by Josh Brolin and Daniel Kaluuya, and all of them are bang on form.The story again centres on the connection between Mexico and the US but this time, instead of people, it's the drugs trade. Many of the characters have dubiuos backgrounds and morals, and ethics seem flexible in search of  each character's goal.

Of the three main actors, Blunt has never been better in all of the movies I've seen her in. Josh Brolin is articulate, easily convincing of his potential duplicity and again I've not seen him take on anything this good recently. Even Del Toro tones it down, allowing his character to come to the fore.

If you're in the mood for a movie that makes you think, especially about subject matter that continues to be used by much more mediocre projects, give this a go.........