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DOCUMENTARY
Cocaine Cowboys (M)
(Out now) * * * *
IF THE phrase "Say hello to my little friend" means anything to you, you're going to love this fascinating documentary. It's being promoted as the real-life story that became the inspiration for productions as varied as Scarface and Miami Vice. Cocaine Cowboys tracks the development of Miami from a sleepy retirement community to a glitzy city awash with drugs, violence, money and corrupt cops.
The more you watch the more you realise they didn't really need to add any embellishment to turn Miami of the '70s and '80s into a compelling movie or TV show -- it was all there for the taking.
The documentary opens with incredibly candid interviews with drug runners/distributors Jon Roberts and Mickey Munday. They set the scene, describing how cocaine was imported, who was buying it and who was selling it.
Roberts's tales of burying millions in cash in his yard because he simply had nowhere left to store it are jaw-dropping.
Journalists and police recount the effect the booming drug trade and resultant skyrocketing murder rate had on society.
Gangsters really did carry machineguns and shoot people in nightclubs.
One-time cartel hitman Jorge Rivi Alaya is interviewed to give a chilling insight into the life of Colombian "godmother" Griselda Blanco. Cocaine Cowboys wraps up like a thriller, waiting until the conclusion to reveal what has actually become of the interviewees. A warning -- it does contain many graphic police crime scene photos.
EXTRAS: Hustlin' with the Godmother: The Charles Cosby Story, deleted scenes and commentary.
Catriona Mathewson
DRAMA
Running With Scissors
(Out now) * * * *
PERSONAL memoirs don't always translate easily to film but Augusten Burroughs's left-of-centre book Running With Scissors more than adequately bridges a difficult gap under the direction of Ryan Murphy (who also wrote...