Benicio Del Toro
In any justifiable world, a film with Benicio del Toro starring as drug kingpin Pablo Escobar would have been a must-see. However, after premiering at TIFF last year, Escobar: Paradise Lost limped to a limited release in January, when it also came out On Demand. That being said, Del Toro was easily the best thing about the film, even if he did not have much screen time. In my review, I wrote the following:
With a large belly and imposing stance, the Oscar-winning actor commands the screen, even when he is not there. Del Toro’s penetrating gaze ensures we understand why so many of Escobar’s thugs and friends obeyed him.
The actor is one of cinema’s greatest chameleons, capable of mining great dramatic range (as he did in 21 Grams). There is also little surprise that he thrived playing the flawed, fascinating Che Guevara in Steven Soderbergh’s two-part historical epic. Del Toro remains one of cinema’s most hypnotic actors, yet he too rarely gets the chance to flex his muscle for a mass audience. Since he can play both a noble cop trying to figure his way around corruption, as well as a charismatic Colombian criminal, it is little question that Del Toro has what it takes to be a terrific action hero.
