But such sobering scenes are few and far between, and for every one that expounds upon the twisted and complicated psychology behind such monstrous acts, Loving Pablo offers several others that merely luxuriate in the material rewards of his savagery, such as an extravagant pool party he throws where “anyone who is anyone is here.” The amplification, and often inadvertent celebration, of Escobar’s many indulgences so often overshadows the damage he caused that you could be forgiven for understanding why so many of his fellow countrymen actually admired him well into the 1980s.Ī late sequence depicting the murders that result from Escobar putting bounties out on Colombia’s police and soldiers offers a terrifyingly authentic peek into the depths of his depravity and the lengths to which he went to retain and expand his power. The film portrays the ostensibly charismatic kingpin in such cartoonishly broad strokes that the whole affair has the melodramatic flair of a telenovela, even as it tries to retain the earnestness and gravity of an epic crime drama.Īranoa’s take on Escobar’s life may offer an alternative to the grittily realistic portrayal of the drug lord on Netflix’s Narcos, but this ham-fisted vision accomplishes little else aside from elevating Escobar to the status of a legend, presenting the widespread chaos and destruction he left in his wake as something that should inspire awe. Writer-director Fernando León de Aranoa’s Loving Pablo is alternately po-faced and campy in its rehashing of the well-documented rise and fall of the notorious Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar (Javier Bardem).
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