Griselda

Griselda is even better than I expected. I love this genre and Griselda Blanco is narco legend. It may start a little slow for some but stick with it because it picks up in a hurry. It's based off a true story and from what I read they do a pretty good job sticking to it. Obviously, with any Hollywood adaptation they change a few of the facts around and add a few things that might not have happened but that's just to make the show more watchable and exciting. My biggest worry was buying Sofia Vergara as a head of the cartel. Well, don't worry...she was great. After a while you forget it's Sofia. I wouldn't be surprised to see her get some award nominations for her job on this. While this isn't quite as good as Narcos or Queen of the South, the show never gets boring and is an easy binge at only 6 episodes.

We quite enjoyed this once we got past thinking of the real life character. We have seen documentaries, this woman was a complete monster. Humanizing her and almost trying to gain sympathy for her plight was jarring. It's just goes too easy on her and almost has you thinking well who could blame her? I thought Sofia was really good, much better than i expected. Just as something to watch it's good, but if you're looking to get a genuine picture of just how awful the real woman was, don't bother! It glossed over or didn't include at all so many major things which is a shame, I feel like it was a wasted opportunity.

Overall I believe this was a good miniseries. While the character of Griselda Blanco was a bit too sympathetic compared to what she was like in real life, Vergara did an outstanding job in a lead dramatic role, and if she was typecast as Gloria Pritchett she broke from it in a strong way.

Supporting cast was very good, I felt there was good chemistry between Vergara and many of the others. Writing seemed very good, well-paced story.

I also very much liked the subtitles. This was a nice touch, and is rarely used on such a large scale. The Spanish language was needed to convey the mood and energy of the show, and it worked like a charm. Nicely done.

Only had a couple of problems with the series:

1) it painted Blanco in way too sympathetic of a light. Anyone who watched the groundbreaking 2006 documentary on the Miami Cocaine Wars called "Cocaine Cowboys" would know the real Blanco was far more vicious and cold than Vergara's portrayal. Also, I don't recall the real Blanco being a demagogue of sorts, with stirring, rebellious speeches to rouse her people to take on the rich whites who exploit them. Nice message but I don't think Blanco was like that.

2) The series was way too short. Only six episodes? There was so much to Blanco's life that you could have done four full seasons, easily. With flashbacks to her horrific childhood, particularly her upbringing by her vicious, abusive mother, Ana Restrepo. Season 1 could have been her NY days, season 2 Miami, season 3 in California (both as a dealer and her imprisonment, including her relationship with Charles Cosby), season 4 back in Colombia ending with her assassination. This was a very good, well-made series and I wanted to see more.

I give this 8/10 largely due to Vergara's chops in a dramatic, serious role, great writing for what this was (a miniseries), and great supporting cast.

This was decent. Pretty good acting and filmed on a decent budget but they absolutely butchered the real story of this woman. They tried so hard to find some kind of humanity in this completely unredeemable woman that it took away from the story of how psychopathic and sociopathic the real Griselda Blanco actually was.

This is a really nice drama to watch but not much more. It's like diet Narcos that's been kept at room temperature. Sofia Vergara does a fairly good job with that she is given but the character is written as an animal backed into a corner, rather than the ruthless sociopath that was the real Griselda.

It was better than ok... But only just.

Very loosely based on the real and very evil life of Griselda Blanco who was a notorious drug lord in 80s Miami. She was murderous, psychopathic, and paranoid among other verifiable facts. The series however portrays her as an affectionate and somewhat naive character navigating the misogynistic world of male-dominated cartels.

Sofia Vergara's acting skills are not up to par for a role like this given the grittiness, depth, and ugliness of Griselda. The makeup and facial prosthetics were also extremely visible and distracting. We've seen countless male actors completely transform their bodies and physical appearance for roles yet here the female lead did not even look like a distant relative of Griselda. In my opinion a miscast, but understandable for show marketing purposes.

The cinematography, pacing, and other actors were alright but you just can't shake off the feeling that the series was half-baked and rushed. We've seen many excellent true crime shows produced over the years that makes this one ultimately forgettable.