Griselda

I just finished watching Griselda with my brother and I can say it definitely lived up to my expectations. Anyone familiar with the Miami drug wars in the 70's and 80's has heard of the name Griselda Blanco. Her nickname is the Godmother. She is one of the most ruthless drug lords that's ever lived with over 250 murders accredited to her. I thought I was going to be distracted by Sofia Vergara's prosthetics but after a few minutes you don't even notice it. The entire cast does an excellent job but I couldn't believe how good Sofia was as Griselda. She stole every scene she was in and was terrifying as Griselda. Yes, this show plays loosely with the facts of the real story but that's ok. They did that to make the show more entertaining and watchable. There's a documentary called Cocaine Cowboys 1 & 2 that tells the exact story and it's worth a watch if you have the time.

Overall I believe this was a good miniseries. While the character of Griselda Blanco was a bit too sympathetic compared to what she was like in real life, Vergara did an outstanding job in a lead dramatic role, and if she was typecast as Gloria Pritchett she broke from it in a strong way.

Supporting cast was very good, I felt there was good chemistry between Vergara and many of the others. Writing seemed very good, well-paced story.

I also very much liked the subtitles. This was a nice touch, and is rarely used on such a large scale. The Spanish language was needed to convey the mood and energy of the show, and it worked like a charm. Nicely done.

Only had a couple of problems with the series:

1) it painted Blanco in way too sympathetic of a light. Anyone who watched the groundbreaking 2006 documentary on the Miami Cocaine Wars called "Cocaine Cowboys" would know the real Blanco was far more vicious and cold than Vergara's portrayal. Also, I don't recall the real Blanco being a demagogue of sorts, with stirring, rebellious speeches to rouse her people to take on the rich whites who exploit them. Nice message but I don't think Blanco was like that.

2) The series was way too short. Only six episodes? There was so much to Blanco's life that you could have done four full seasons, easily. With flashbacks to her horrific childhood, particularly her upbringing by her vicious, abusive mother, Ana Restrepo. Season 1 could have been her NY days, season 2 Miami, season 3 in California (both as a dealer and her imprisonment, including her relationship with Charles Cosby), season 4 back in Colombia ending with her assassination. This was a very good, well-made series and I wanted to see more.

I give this 8/10 largely due to Vergara's chops in a dramatic, serious role, great writing for what this was (a miniseries), and great supporting cast.

This series was far better than what I was expecting. The acting is done extremely well so everything feels real not like how some of these shows are so far fetched with bad lines and scenes where nothing is believable. They've done a good job with the actors outfits and the set because everything looks exactly like it did in the 70s and 80s. Honestly the only gripe I have is that everything isn't exactly accurate to Griseldas story and how things happened in real life. I suppose alot of people probably won't really know her story and it's not enough of a big deal to sway you from watching or not watching it. Since the show goes into great detail i just would have preferred them to keep true to how things actually happened instead of some of the things the show has changed. For instance, how Rivi is introduced in the show. In real life they met by chance because Rivi messed a hit up, and Rivi is super essential to Griselda so I don't really understand the way they wrote him and her husband Dario becuase in real life it was Rivi doing alot of the things the show has Dario doing. Overall I'd definitely recommend watching, it's not as good as Narcos but will definitely keep you entertained through every episode.

Very loosely based on the real and very evil life of Griselda Blanco who was a notorious drug lord in 80s Miami. She was murderous, psychopathic, and paranoid among other verifiable facts. The series however portrays her as an affectionate and somewhat naive character navigating the misogynistic world of male-dominated cartels.

Sofia Vergara's acting skills are not up to par for a role like this given the grittiness, depth, and ugliness of Griselda. The makeup and facial prosthetics were also extremely visible and distracting. We've seen countless male actors completely transform their bodies and physical appearance for roles yet here the female lead did not even look like a distant relative of Griselda. In my opinion a miscast, but understandable for show marketing purposes.

The cinematography, pacing, and other actors were alright but you just can't shake off the feeling that the series was half-baked and rushed. We've seen many excellent true crime shows produced over the years that makes this one ultimately forgettable.

This was decent. Pretty good acting and filmed on a decent budget but they absolutely butchered the real story of this woman. They tried so hard to find some kind of humanity in this completely unredeemable woman that it took away from the story of how psychopathic and sociopathic the real Griselda Blanco actually was.

This is a really nice drama to watch but not much more. It's like diet Narcos that's been kept at room temperature. Sofia Vergara does a fairly good job with that she is given but the character is written as an animal backed into a corner, rather than the ruthless sociopath that was the real Griselda.

It was better than ok... But only just.