Some movies just feel like documentaries. This one would be a good companion piece to Sicario. Completely different point of view mind you (not to mention different crime area), but it would fit mood wise. Having said that, Sicario still is superior in many ways of course, but this has a lot of punches and it doesn't pull them.You may not be familiar with practices in certain areas and how you should react or better yet not react to them. While it may sound logic to go to the cops, that's not always wise. Then again, there are also deals you cannot pass. Especially if the involve your life being threatened. A little bonus doesn't hurt anybody and the movie will not answer all the questions you'll have ... Just like real life then (if you live in a very bad area like that)

A really good hard-hitting portrayal of the Mexican drugs war.What is original about this movie is that it doesn't portray events from the inside. It is presented from the perspective of an outsider - a beauty show contestant - who unwittingly gets caught up in the violence.We see everything from her point of view - how she is used and how she is taken pity on, how she tries to make the right decisions and how often she doesn't have any decisions, how she understands and yet doesn't understand what is happening to her.In some ways it is frustrating to watch, because you can't always understand who the characters are and why they are fighting each other. But I suppose that's the partly the point.Fundamentally, it is an uplifting tale. It presents the determination and resilience of a woman against the forces of violent crime. How it works out for her is kind of beside the point.A clever and commendable movie.

Why is this film entitled "Miss Bala"? It should be "Miss Baja". From the title to direction, acting and even film editing, this movie doesn't live up to the script. It's a story from the headlines, seen through the eyes of an innocent young woman. The story weaves drug violence and corruption through a young girl's dream of becoming Miss Baja....or Miss Bala. Trouble is, the heroine seems stupid and weak, and doesn't seem any wiser at the end of the story. Many scenes are poorly lit and take too long. None of the other characters, except maybe the drug kingpin, seem real; more like cartoon gangsters, policemen, beauty pageant officials and soldiers on both sides. It's worth watching. With the same script in the hands of a better director, technical staff and actors, it could have been amazing.

MISS BALA is a strong film from Mexico (apparently based on a true account of the unending drug war focused in Tijuana produced by actors Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna and James Russo who has a role in the film as a corrupt DEA agent) - a film that is unafraid to uncover the ruthless activities by the drug cartels, the Mexican police, and the US DEA agents in the endless battle against drug trafficking. It hits like a punch in the stomach and remains in the memory long after the credits have rolled.Laura Guerrero (Stephanie Sigman) dreams of being a beauty queen in the Miss Baja California Beauty Pageant, a position that will raise her out of her meager existence as a dress maker in the outskirts of Tijuana where she lives with her little brother and father. She and her best friend Zuzu work their way into the line of women vying for the contest title. After winning entry into the pageant Laura reluctantly agrees to go to a sleazy nightclub with Zuzu. In the club's toilets she witnesses the covert entry of an organized drugs cartel led by Lino Valdez (Noe Hernandez). Lino is finds Laura to be attractive and smart, and allows her to escape. However, when Laura reports her missing friend Zuzu to a corrupt Mexican police officer, she finds herself delivered back into the hands of Lino, and entangled ever deeper in a vicious drugs war. She is used as a mule to transport drug money across the border, returning to full fledged gang war. Lino uses her physically and then keeps his promise to have her crowned Miss Baja California, but the title and the events that follow lead to horrors and alienation Laura never dreamed possible.Writers Mauricio Katz and writer/director Gerardo Naranjo push this expose of just how all consuming the drug traffic problem is at the border. It is terrifying and though Laura seems to be a helpless obeying victim throughout the tale, she represents just how futile it must be to attempt to stand against the atrocious crimes being committed. The power of the film is its willingness to show that both side of the war on drugs - gangs, police, DEA agents, and population - are at fault for allowing this outrage to continue. But business is business and the film hints at how hopeless the situation is. Stephanie Sigman emerges as an actress of importance and her part in this film will remain indelibly burned on the minds of the viewers. We should all see this film. Grady Harp