Escobar: Paradise Lost

This muscular account of a naive Canadian's relationship with Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar may open sluggishly, but it builds to a tense finale. Making his directorial debut, actor Andrea di Stefano has clearly watched lots of Italian mob movies, as well as plenty of Carol Reed and Francis Ford Coppola. But he ably captures the sights and sounds of Medellín in the early 1990s, as Josh Hutcherson abandons the surf business he has started with brother Brady Corbet to romance Claudia Traisac - whose uncle just happens to be the most powerful and dangerous man in the entire country. As played by Benicio Del Toro, Escobar is a family man with a Robin Hood complex and a ruthless compunction to liquidate anyone who crosses him, from beach bums to justice ministers. The scene-setting dawdles interminably, but the suspense grips once the authorities close in on Escobar's compound and Hutcherson realises the depth of his trouble when he's sent on a secret mission to a cave outside Ituango. Hutcherson is hard to like as the innocent abroad, while Del Toro over-channels Brando (as both Kurtz and Corleone). But this remains menacingly entertaining.