User Reviews

On it's own this may be a decent movie. But if you watched Narcos before this movie, it only seems like a hasty summary of the series, told from the viewpoint of one of the less interesting characters. This, combined with the fact that it should have been in Spanish, and the annoying voice over, makes it a pain to watch. One upside: Javier Bardem is actually good as Pablo!

If you have watched Narcos, this film is going to be like a brief summary for you. The plot is based on the book "Loving Pablo, hating Escobar" written by Virginia Vallejo. According to her point of view, she gives her version of Escobar's story and his crimes. Bardem and Cruz give an extraordinary performance in this film, Bardem looks like the real Pablo. For this reason, I agree with the other users who are saying that the film would have been better in Spanish (like Narcos). Apart from that, I recommend this film if you are interested in Escobar's story.

The film should have been in Spanish with subtitles. It was impossible to follow the dialogue.

Why anyone (the director?) made Spanish actors speak bad English in a story which is supposed to take place in a Spanish speaking country with Spanish speaking characters is a mysterious to me. It makes the otherwise well intended film unnatural and completely unbelievable, in my mind it turns the film into a B-movie, frankly unbearable to watch. What a waste of good actors! In an age when even HBO has understood that subtitles are indispensable when you want to make your story to be authentic and credible, I think that decision is the worst flaw of the film.

This is a very romanticized version of Pablo Escobar's life. It was meant to be that way, so don't have any other expectations. From that point of view, one of the few couples in Hollywood (Cruz+Bardem) who can work professionaly outside their private life. They make a great team on set.

Never watched a movie from this side of the story.. but its in English.

This is a simple biography movie about "Escobar" from the viewpoint of "Virginia Vallejo" ,a colombian journalist who had a relationship with "Escobar" in 80's till his death, so the movie shows the last 10 to 15 years in "Escobar's" life, which is good and bad in the same time.

It's good that it shows a specific situations related to the timeline of the story without getting into details , and it goes directly into the actions of drug trafficking. But you may find it bad as it's not a full documentary about the life of "Escobar", so you may have questions not getting answered about the start of his business and his childhood or his life before the drug business.

I found the movie quite enjoyable with that accent,However there is some scenes with full spanish dialogue which is not subtitled so it can be annoying.

The script is acceptable, the directing is good in addition to the photography, the acting of "Javier Bardem" is the best and watching him with his face reactions and his daily splendour lifestyle as "Escobar" is quite enjoyable, you may feel that "Penélope Cruz" doesn't really act and she is showing her real personality but i can't really decide if this is a good or bad thing.

The movie follow a single timeline and it focus about how "Escobar" deal with his family, friends, business and women. The adoption of his home, prison, friends, family and death is really impressive, and you can depend on it if you want to know the real lifestyle of "Escobar".

You can watch "American Made" if you want to see American point of view of "Escobar" and some of his actions.

Finally, it's a good biography movie that lacks a real plot, but this didn't prevent it to be an enjoyable movie that you may hardly feel bored watching it.

In 1981, Virginia Vallejo (Penelope Cruz) is a famed Colombia's journalist and TV news anchorwoman who is invited to a VIPs party in the ranch of Pablo Escobar, a Colombian drug lord and narcoterrorist who founded and was the sole leader of the Medellín Cartel . Seduced by his charisma, journalist Virginia starts a passionate love story with Escobar (Javier Bardem) despite he's a family man married with María Victoria (Julieth Restrepo) . Along the 80's years, Escobar becomes notorious in his attempt to better the life of the low-born people of Medellín and raising a politician carrier in the Colombia's congress, being elected as a congressman , but Virginia starts to know Escobar's real power controlling an empire of crime in Colombia and spreading his drug by all USA . It causes that the DEA's agent Shepard (Peter Sarsgaard) sets out in his pursuit , adding the President Belisario Betancur allying with USA to stop Escobar and extradite him to judge outside Colombia .

Drama , thriller movie based on actual events about a journalist who strikes up a romantic relationship with famous drug lord Pablo Escobar that results in a thunderous love affair , this last one begins a drug international smuggling and subsequently a war in the country to eliminate all his enemies, politicians and non-politicians . The picture relies heavily on the twisted relationship between Javier Bardem/Pablo Escobar and Penélope Cruz/Virginia Vallejo. Here Javier Bardem gives a terrific acting as Escobar , displaying an extreme physical transformation , giving a violent portrayal of the heinous ringleader who unleashes his thirst for blood and his ambition to rule everything . Penelopé Cruz gives an acceptable performance as Virginia, an anchorwoman who makes a difficult decison , seeing as her carrier and her reputation are destroyed by Escobar, takes off a real situation: to die at the hands of Escobar or by his enemies as an act of reprisal, or save herself helping Shepard to stop Escobar before he kills her. And Peter Sarsgaard as a stubborn DEA agent Shepard who interests by his business and by Virginia, contacting her looking for a way to stop him . It contains a colorful and evocative cinematography by Alex Catalán . Atmospheric as well as lively musical score by Federico Jusid . The motion picture was professionally directed by Fernando León De Aranoa, realizing in a realistic and thrilling style . Fernando León De Aranoa was born on May 26, 1968 in Madrid, location where he often shoots his flicks . Fernando began working in cinema in the 90s filming shorts and writing screenplays, and has made a few films , usually dramas . He is a nice writer and director, known for Familia (1996) , Princesas (2005) , Barrio (1998), Amador (2010) , Sabina (2011) , his best picture : Los Lunes al Sol or Mondays in the sun (2002) and A pertect day (2015) .

Adding more remarks about his life , these are as follows : Pablo Escobar Gaviria (1 December 1949 - 2 December 1993) was a a low-born man who gained money and power with drug trafficking together his friends, turning them in the new generation of rich men of the country. Dubbed "The King of Cocaine", Escobar is the wealthiest criminal in history, having amassed an estimated net worth of US$30 billion by the time of his death (equivalent to $58 billion as of 2018), while his cartel monopolized the cocaine trade into the United States in the 1980s and 1990s . Born in Rionegro and raised in Medellín, Escobar studied briefly at Universidad Autónoma Latinoamericana of Medellín, but left without graduating; he instead began engaging in criminal activity, selling illegal cigarettes and fake lottery tickets, as well as participating in motor vehicle theft. In the early 1970s, he began to work for various drug smugglers, often kidnapping and holding people for ransom .In 1976, Escobar founded the Medellín Cartel, which distributed powder cocaine, and established the first smuggling routes into the United States. Escobar's infiltration into the U.S. created exponential demand for cocaine, and by the 1980s, it was estimated Escobar led monthly shipments of 70 to 80 tons of cocaine into the country from Colombia . As a result, Escobar quickly became one of the richest people in the world ,but consistently battled rival cartels domestically and abroad, which led to massacres and the murders of police officers, judges, locals, and prominent politicians , making Colombia the murder capital of the world. In the 1982 parliamentary election, Escobar was elected as an alternate member of the Chamber of Representatives as part of the Liberal Alternative movement. Through this, he was responsible for community projects, such as the construction of houses and football fields, which gained him popularity among the locals of the towns that he frequented. However, Escobar was vilified by the Colombian and American governments, who routinely stifled his political ambitions and pushed for his arrest, with Escobar widely believed to have orchestrated the DAS Building bombing and Avianca Flight 203 bombings in retaliation . In 1991, Escobar surrendered to authorities, and was sentenced to five years imprisonment on a host of charges, but struck a deal of no extradition with Colombian President Cesar Gaviria, with the ability of being housed in his own, self-built prison. In 1992, Escobar escaped and went into hiding when authorities attempted to move him to a more standard holding facility, leading to a nation-wide manhunt.As a result, the Medellín Cartel crumbled, and in 1993, Escobar was killed in his hometown by Colombian National Police, a day after his 44th birthday. His legacy remains controversial; while many denounce the heinous nature of his crimes, Escobar was seen as a "Robin Hood-like" figure for many in Colombia, as he provided many amenities to the poor, while his killing was mourned and his funeral attended by over 25,000 people. Additionally, his private estate, Hacienda Nápoles, has been transformed into a theme park, and he has been praised or criticized for importing hippopotamuses to Colombia. His life has also served as inspiration for or has been dramatized in film, television, and in music.

His life has been adapted in : Blow, a 2001 American biographical film based on George Jung; Escobar was portrayed by Cliff Curtis.Pablo Escobar: The King of Coke (2007) is a TV movie documentary by National Geographic, featuring archival footage and commentary by stakeholders. Escobar (2009) was delayed because of producer Oliver Stone's involvement with the George W. Bush biopic .Killing Pablo (2011), was supposedly in development for several years, directed by Joe Carnahan. It was to be based on Mark Bowden's 2001 book of the same title, which in turn was based on his 31-part Philadelphia Inquirer series of articles on the subject. In December 2008, Bob Yari, producer of Killing Pablo, filed for bankruptcy. Escobar: Paradise Lost: a romantic thriller in which a naive Canadian surfer falls in love with a girl who turns out to be Escobar's niece. American Made, a 2017 American biographical film based on Barry Seal; Escobar was portrayed by Mauricio Mejía.

Without saying much my Wife and I watched this recently and both thought it was a great movie. Though sometimes the broken spanish was hard to make out it didn't take from the story at all. The acting was top notch and the story was intriguing. Definitely worth a watch.

The popculture's one of the more iconic real-life drug barons Pablo Escobar returns to screen, played by Javier Bardem.

The notorious man's rule and eventual fall are portrayed by the perspective of a journalist (Penélope Cruz) who was his long-time lover - the screenplay is based on the book that she published.

A real-life epic drama, starred by two of the Spanish cinema's biggest gifts to modern Hollywood? It is easy to imagine this being a vanity project with not much real depth or dramatic heft.

And you would be right to think that. "Loving Pablo" is more about the excitement of watching Bardem and Cruz re-enacting the great soap opera / crime story than giving intellectually exciting excursion to the mind and life of the great mr Escobar.

There's nothing markedly unique about the story, just more rehashing of popular "greed is good" and mafia cliches that we've witnessed in mainstream movies and series released in the last thirty years or so (since Oliver Stone invented them for "Wall Street").

The character- and relationship development in the centre of the story feel functional but overall shallow. Sometimes the narrator just conveniently mentions something to add important new information which one can't just deduce from seen events. For example that Virginia was afraid of Pablo too, and Pable often cheated on her also.

Maybe the new, 16 minutes shorter cinema cut is to blame? IMDb and some reviews suggest is should last 123 minutes instead of 107. The longer version's additional material may have made the story better.

But one can't argue with the movie's two biggest trumps which make it easily worth the ticket price or time spent.

Firstly, the adrenaline-soaked violence. Sure, there is a great number of movies and series out there that make killing and hurting people look cool, as opposed to real life where it seems much more horrifying and much less less picturesque.

But "Loving Pablo" is really in the league of its own, all this killing business looks amazing and visually inventive. R-rating well earned. Not that I condone violence in real life... but still.

Secondly, Bardem, great as always. Witnessing his mesmerizing performance as the drug lord is a pleasure indeed.

I do not especially care how realistic his approach to the real-life Escobar is - don't think it matters, really - but Bardem looks every inch as sly and dangerous human beast as the kingpin must have been in his lifetime. Lifeless, half-shut, lurking eyes, curled hair, pot-belly... he creates a powerful and memorable cinematic gangster for sure.

Also, I may be the only one to say this, but I'd like to see Nicolas Cage fill this role. Watching Bardem, I constantly felt that Cage would also be great as this character.

Cruz is good too but she's more of a supporting player, and her character is not fascinating in her own right. More like a decoration in the great big painting of Escobar's life.

"Loving Pablo" was first released in Venice Film Festival last September, but the distributors have made a wise choice to release it widely this summer instead.

Wise because it's entertaining cinema but a rather shallow movie, easily watchable and digestible on the go. In other words, good for summer season.

I struggled to make it through "Loving Pablo". The goofy accents made it into some ridiculous sort of comi-tragedy, in which cartoon characters are acted out by people. Made the whole production seem confounded and stupid.

Having Colombians characters speaking slurred English among themselves in exaggerated accents was the wrong artistic choice. It distracts from the story, and calls credibility into question.

It is rare when a film about a real life notorious monster can be offered in a biographical film that pulls the audience in to see all aspects of the character. Virginia Vallejo's book about the notorious drug lord of Colombia - Pablo Escobar - so aptly titled LOVING PABLO, HATING ESCOBAR - did that and she co-authored the script with Director Fernando León de Aranoa. The result is the same. It is a see all hear all examination by a journalist strikes up a romantic relationship with notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar.

The story has been well outlined - 'In 1981, Virginia Vallejo (Penélope Cruz) is a famous Colombia's journalist and TV news anchorwoman who is invited to a VIPs party in the ranch of Pablo Escobar (Javier Bardem) a low-born man who gained money and power with drug trafficking together his friends, turning them in the new generation of rich men of the country. Seduced by his charisma, Virginia starts a passionate love affair with Escobar despite he's a family man married with María Victoria (Julieth Restrepo). Along the 80's years, Escobar becomes famous in his try to better the life of the low-born people of Medellín and raising a politician carrier in the Colombia's congress, but Virginia starts to understand Escobar's real power controlling an empire of crime in Colombia and spreading his drug by all USA. It causes that the DEA's agent Shepard (Peter Sarsgaard) interests by his business and by Virginia, contacting her looking for a way to stop him. With the President Belisario Betancur allying with USA to stop Escobar and extradite him to judge outside Colombia, this last one starts a war in the country to eliminate all his enemies, politicians and non-politicians, unleashing his thirst for blood and his ambition to rule everything. Virginia, seeing as her carrier and her reputation are destroyed by Escobar, faces a extreme situation: to die at the hands of Escobar or by his enemies as an act of reprisal, or save herself helping Shepard to stop Escobar before he kills her.'

Javier Bardem (apparently required to add fat to his character's body) is superb as is Penélope Cruz. The minor roles are very well played and while the crossover between Spanish and English confuses everyone no matter their linguistic skills, the story works on every level.

They compare a 2 hours long movie to a series that has 3 seasons!

I mean you can't compare the two. It was just fine. Interesting. I almost didn't watch it as it had such a low score.

The acting was good, THE BAIT scene was genius. A very strong 7/10 movie.

About the language.. You wouldn't even watch it with subtitles. If it is not in English you wouldn't even bother to watch it. Seriously. And don't act like you never heard them talk before.

All the scores lower than 6 are fake coming by people that are only watching netflix.

Narcos seasons 1 and 2 have already captured the story of Pablo Escobar fantastically. In Narcos, Wagner Moura portraits Escobar in such a convincing way that to me he is now Pablo Escobar. Watching a quality actor like Bardem doesn't change the fact that even a movie edition of Narcos would easily be a better movie.

Sadly I missed a lot of what was said because Javier Bardem just mumbles his way through the whole thing.

In the past decade there's been much coverage of Escobar's life in film and television. If it's "El Patron del Mal", "Narcos", "Paradise Lost" even "Blow" or the recent "American Made". There are plenty of good and interesting adaptations of the real life events which involved Escobar. So the question is if there even was anything else to tell? Well, "Loving Pablo" is based on the book by reporter Virginia Vallejo and it focuses on her relationship with Pablo. It's pretty much told from her perspective and what she had to deal with by knowing the man. Sure, that's another angle to go with. To be honest, I only got curious when I saw which people were involved in the making. Spanish director/writer Fernando León de Aranoa takes the helm. I highly enjoyed his film "Mondays in the Sun", so I know he's a competent filmmaker. And then of course we got Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz as the two main characters. I thought their chemistry and interactions in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" were fantastic. With this in mind there had to be some merit. After watching it I ultimately think that the film is a mixed bag. There things to enjoy, but after all the "Narcos"-shows it does fall in to the "Been there, done it all" realm.

The biggest problem is that it's in the English language. I know that Bardem, who also produced, was actively trying to convince many studios for it to be in Spanish. But none of them were willing to give them the green-light unless it was more international so it could appeal to a wider audience. The film suffered greatly because of that. They could still have spoken English whenever there's interaction with characters from the United States, but a good deal of authenticity is lost. And frankly, it was distracting to me. It's not bad filmmaking wise. León de Aranoa utilizes many long takes where he finds creative camera angles. The build-up of tension is executed well. As soon as the intense man-hunt begins about half way through, then momentum is not lost. I liked that there's a way to understand the motives and human sides of Pablo. Yet in the next scene you are immediately frightened of him again. Bardem's resemblance to Escobar is uncanny. Like Charlize Theron so amazingly did in "Tully", Bardem's physical transformation makes him fade away. That added a great deal for the immersion. When he appears you forget you're watching the actor. But then again, when he starts conversing in English I'm left underwhelmed. Because if it was in it's authentic language, it could have been so, so, so much more affective. Cruz is also fantastic at what she does. Her character changes quite a bit throughout the story. Going from curious and happy to hardened and emotionally unstable. You get that she loved Pablo, but hated Escobar. That is presented clearly.

If you've already seen the shows on Netflix and so on, then you're not missing much. That's sad when you have great talent at hand and a director who has a good flair of how to create unnerving scenes. I wanna highlight the camera work again. Many set-pieces have a good use of blocking, light and inventiveness to make everything look less lazy. It's a movie made by people who know what they're doing filmmaking and performance wise, but it was made under unfortunate circumstances. With one mistake that made the whole project suffer. It's the same story of Escobar again, yet you get to understand him and Vallejo's relation. And more importantly why she loved and hated him at the same time. If you wanna see Escobar's life from that perspective, then check it out for curiosity. I wanna give it merit where merit is due, but I was left disappointed.

Directing: 6 /Acting: 8 /Story: 5 /Production values: 5 /Suspence - Thriller level: 7 /Action: 4 /Mystery - unknown: 0 /Romance level: 5 /Comedy elements: 0

Based on a 2007 book by Virginia Vallejo, as fairly standard movie, "Loving Pablo" details the tumultuous relationship between Colombian drug baron Pablo Escobar (J. Bardem) and his ambitious superficial mistress, Colombian television journalist V. Vallejo (P. Cruz). As end result, film fails to make much of an impact on the viewers. From time to time, showed violence does alleviate ones crushing boredom, but the movie - which BTW closes with a completely anticlimactic final - ultimately becomes a serious waste of time. Basically, film is not on the same level with the excellent Netflix TV series Narcos, which covered Escobar's epic rise and fall. Also, it's more unenlightening than any other Escobar biopic, while Cruz doesn't do justice to her character and Bardem's acting (with his unnecessary pot belly) seems confused and with no idea of what he is meant to be showing. At the end, movie - with its top-notch production values - simply leaves you indifferent. Had it come along before "Narcos", it might have been received differently, but now - it's irrelevant, mostly boring and totally unnecessary movie.

Rating: 6/5-

The point of the movie (besides making money) is to introduce those parts of the world less familiar w/Columbian drug cartels (mostly Pablo Escobar) as seen through the experiences of a journalist, Virginia Vallejo, and her intimate experiences. As many reviewers harangued about bad accents I wonder how that damages the insights & history learned of those involved. Taking place mostly in the '80s the movie gave me another perspective on "Thanks to those men (cartels) it's going to snow cocaine in the US." At the time about 40 tons a year. Touched upon, but perhaps needed more scene time was the degree of violence committed by all sides.

Greetings again from the darkness. The first two seasons of the popular and critically acclaimed TV show "Narcos" focuses on the Medellin Cartel and its leader Pablo Escobar, and with multiple episodes, it was able to show immense detail in both the man and his business dealings (drug trafficking). In contrast, this feature length film from writer/director Fernando Leon de Aranoa takes more of a snapshot-in-time approach to Escobar's rise to power and the reasons for his downfall.

Based on the memoir "Loving Pablo, Hating Pablo" by Columbian journalist and TV personality Virginia Vallejo, director de Aranoa spends quite a bit of time on the relationship between Escobar and Ms. Vallejo. The reason this works is due to the onscreen (and off) connection between lead actors Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz (a married couple in real life). We see the sparks and feel the sexual energy between them in their first meeting, and then later, both show off their acting talents as times get tough ... she frightened for her life, he as defiant and cold-blooded as ever.

Javier Bardem flashes quite the pot belly for a man known as "Robin Hood" for building houses for the poor, and feared as "El Patron" (The Boss) for obvious reasons. Having grown up in poverty, it was drug trafficking which brought him such power and made him a billionaire. We see his interactions with his wife (Juliet Restrepo) and kids, as well as some glimpses of how he handled his staff and business dealings. Ruthless and intimidating are the two words that come to mind.

The film begins with a sequence from 1993, but soon flashes back to a 1981 party at Escobar's immense compound ... and yes, the zoo animals did roam on site. We are informed this is the real beginning of the Medellin Cartel, and by 1982 we learn they made it "snow cocaine in the U.S.". Remarkably, Escobar was elected to the Chamber of Representatives of Columbia, and we watch him quote Nancy Reagan to his son ("Just say no") as he explains cocaine to the young boy.

Ms. Cruz shines as Virginia Vallejo, who allows herself to get caught up in the power and money ... foolishly thinking she can stay above the fray. Since the film is inspired by the true events recounted in Ms. Vallejo's book, there are quite a few chilling moments - maybe none more dramatic than Escobar's gift to her of a handgun and his corresponding monologue. The film covers New York City and then Panama, all while Peter Sarsgaard plays the DEA agent tracking Escobar's movements.

We see 1991, when Escobar turns himself in and heads to jail - all so he can restructure his business within the confines of what might better be described as a resort ... one which he presides over. After his escape from a military prison in 1992, an all-out war breaks out on the street, and we know the end is near.

Look, Pablo Escobar was a despicable man running a despicable business. He's so mean, he even abuses a plate of spaghetti in one scene - that's just the kind of guy he was. If you know the basics of his story, the film isn't likely to teach you much. It's really just a dramatization of one of the most infamous (and successful) drug traffickers we've seen, although the recreation of his death scene does a superb job in capturing the detail of the famous photograph. He's not a guy we really care to learn about, however, since much of it is told through Virginia Vallejo's eyes, we at least get somewhat of a human and personal perspective.

If you didnt see Narcos you will probably will have difficulties to understand many connections in the movie. And Wagner Moura was so good that its very hard to challenge him , not Bardem not someone else. Just an average movie with Escobar story after Narcos success..

Yes, it is a terrible mistake that main spoken language is English in the movie. However, Bardem portrays Escobar within a birilliant performance. Penelope Cruz, as well, presents a satisftying performance eventhouh it is not as stronges as Bardem's. The story focuses on Escobar's metamorphic transformations of personal characater. we meet various Escobars having different psychological motivations; Escobar as father, husband, darling, boss, politician. Within those different personality views, two elements compose an intersection set; dominant masculinity norms and belief of self-innocence. Escobar character in the movie, whatever he changes by the context of his rational mind, never gives up his masculine pleasures and never loses his belief on that he prefers always the right way. No matter what happens, Escobar is right, even if he is only one believing that. Absolutely, the movie could be better. But, it is not bad work as what it is, now.

I was eating Chinese take-out food and I thought it would be cool if this film was in Chinese with Indonesian subtitles. Watching Spanish speaking actors speak English is like totally awesome, but I like to think outside the Moo Goo Gai Pan....

Javier Bardem is almost completely incoherent throughout most of the movie, and just sounds like someone who is drunk and has a mouthful of marbles.

All around us were people who kept saying what did he say? I can understand him is he speaking English?

Given the amount of money that actors are paid to portray a role these days they should have it should be written into their contract that there is a requirement for their dialogue to be delivered in a way that is clear and legible. If this is your craft and people cannot understand you then high time to take some elocution classes or look for another occupation.

Like most reviews have stated this offering pales into comparison to the Narcos series, if you really must watch it then wait for a voice overdubbing version or look for full subtitles or you will be wasting your time.

1/10 because it wont let me vote zero.