El rey

I was lucky enough to catch this film at a film festival in Miami. The film is about Pedro Rey who preceded Pablo Escobar as Colombi's main cocaine kingpin in the 1970's. The film is a Colombian production and filmed on location in Cali. While the film is low budget it is very rich in character development and story.

The film pretty much tells the story of how Pedro Rey rose from his humble beginnings to be one of the top cocaine dealers in Colombia. Along the way he befriends an American from the Peace Corps who becomes his main distribution contact in the U.S. The film exposes how the drug money Pedro Rey earns can corrupt politicians, police forces and his own family. The movie was well acted and the characters very real. The film did remind me of Brian De Palma's "Scarface" but overall it was a good production.