A journalist strikes up a romantic relationship with notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar.A journalist strikes up a romantic relationship with notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar.A journalist strikes up a romantic relationship with notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar.
- Awards
- 1 win & 5 nominations total
Featured reviews
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.
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.
Loving Pablo has certainly moments of guilty pleasure but leaves an empty feeling when reaching the end. This is the story of the rise and fall of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. The very clever pairing of Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz as the strongly larger-than-life couple gave this production a shot at the international box office before it will go to smaller screens. Very much action-packed, Loving Pablo marks a turn towards the mainstream for Fernando Leon de Aranoa, the Spanish writer-director best known for social and political dramas.
What ends up holding the film down to its level of superficial glitz is being adapted from Vallejo's novel/memoir Loving Pablo, Hating Escobar. The story is told almost on that basis and that's the min limit.
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.
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.
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!
Did you know
- TriviaPablo Escobar's long-time mistress, Virginia Vallejo, hated the way she was depicted on the Netflix hit series, Narcos (2015). She did, however, thoroughly approve of the way that Penélope Cruz portrayed her in this film.
- GoofsIn the highway plane landing in Florida there are mountains in the background.
- Quotes
Virginia Vallejo: If you are going to cry over a man, better in a private jet than a bus.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Conan: Javier Bardem/Elizabeth Olsen/Phoebe Bridgers (2018)
- SoundtracksPavo real
Written by Joe Arroyo
Performed by José Luis Rodríguez 'El Puma' (as Jose Luis "El Puma" Rodriguez)
- How long is Loving Pablo?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- €14,582,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $22,017
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $16,564
- Oct 7, 2018
- Gross worldwide
- $17,535,967
- Runtime
- 2h 3m(123 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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