'The Counselor' Masterfully Depicts Lives of Men of Violence
WARNING: THERE BE SPOLIERS HERE, APLENTY Reiner explains what a bolito is. Ridley Scott’s “ The Counselor ” evokes a certain chill in the viewer, despite the fact it takes place on the searing Mexican border. The film is a brilliant portrayal of men living lives of varying degrees of corruptness, from the entry-level outsider, the titular Counselor (Michael Fassbender), to the experienced professionals (such as Javier Bardem 's character, the nightclub-owning Reiner, who lives in denial; and the jaded, looking-for-an-exit Westray, played by Brad Pitt ), all the way up the chain to the drug kingpins, personified by the character named in the credits as jefe, played by the great Rubén Blades . Cartels have been working with the Sicilian Mafia for some time; the recent bust in New York and Calabria reveals the Gambino and Bonanno families are in league with the Cartels, seemingly the middlemen between the big Mexican narcotrafficantes and the Ndrangheta.