Cocaine Cowboys

Why even put this in a cinema when it’s intended to be devoured on DVD by potheads, 17-year-old Pablo Escobar wannabes with posters of ‘Scarface’ on their bedroom walls, and fans of ‘Rise of the Footsoldier’? It’s a headachey rush of a documentary about the explosion of the cocaine trade in Miami in the late ’70s and early ’80s. Director Billy Corben injects his film with a dose of the white stuff: we dash between talking-heads such as former dealer, Jon Roberts, and big-time transporter, Mickey Munday, and a messy bottom-drawer of old news footage and faded photos – a lot of which barely relate to specifics. There are some shaky reconstructions too. ‘Florida is awash with cocaine,’ shrieks the news and, boy, doesn’t Corben ram that point home? He refuses to allow even a few minutes to pass without flashing up images of either cash or coke or both.
It’s the sort of glamour-meets-violence drugs-crime story on which lads’ mags thrive: unqualified, over-reverent and hysterical.