Oliver Stone’s narco movie ‘Savages’ opens this weekend starring Salma Hayek, Benecio del Toro, Blake Lively, amongst others. The movie is based on Don Winslow’s novel by the same title and tells the story of a sexually adventurous pot-selling three-some who decide to go to war with a Mexican cartel. Their risk taking gets the girl (Blake Lively) kidnapped and her two lovers want her back and are willing to fight the cartel in their back yard, in order to do so.
For the Oscar-winning writer and director this is but another attempt to show us the ills of drugs and drug trafficking, something Mexico is all too aware of. Stone wrote the drug classic ‘Midnight Express’ and if that didn’t scare you away from drugs his portrayal of the drug-dazed Jim Morisson in “The Doors” should of done it. Stone also wrote a Latino favorite ‘Scarface’ - who could forget Cuban refugee Tony Montana and his piles of coke.
There are a lot of negative narco images in the movie starting with Lado (played by del Toro) as a cartel enforcer who appears mild-mannered when compared to the headlining-making Mexican Zetas. Then we have the ruthless cartel head, Elena, played by Hayek. Clearly Stone did his homework and knows there are more and more females taking lead roles in Mexico’s drug trafficking business.
Stone in a recent interview, with Vulture, believes drug money in Mexico to be “bigger than tourism, bigger than oil.” Stone further declared “Mexico would fall apart without drug money.” Ouch.
Stone not only had the Mexican narcos in mind when making the movie he also had the Latino market in mind. The studio created a promotional campaign specifically geared toward Latin American, Spanish-speaking audiences. The Spanish-language promos include the song “El Matador” by Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, an Argentine rock band.
For all the Latinos wanting an entertaining version of the Mexican narcos this movie is for you and this movie is definitely for all the Oliver Stone fans out there, its solid film making.
