A Canadian gringo (we don’ wan’ to offend nobody) falls in love with the pretty niece of the Colombian drug lord, is brought into the business, changes his mind when he’s asked to kill somebody, and runs for his life.

If you can survive the tedious first half, the second ramps up to a pretty good chase thriller. Problem is that, while the Benicio Del Toro works his usual magic as the title narco, it’s really a supporting role, with the bulk of the screen time devoted to said conflicted gringo. And casting the shallow, wussy Josh Hutcherson in the lead here has to be viewed as a major missed opportunity. (120 min)