Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

mail-2217 I originally watched this on NBC when it aired. The more 'R' rated is slightly better.It's sort of a Mexican version of The Sopranos. If you like that sort of thing you'll probably like this as well.I have to say that for network TV it's as good as it gets. I think it's problem was that it was too far ahead of it's time. It was certainly ahead of anything else at the time on 'network' in terms of complexity and realism. The proof is that the DVD holds up very well and in fact, with the state of things in Mexico, seems even more relevant now.I cannot for the -life- of me understand why this didn't have a good long run... except that, again, I think the US wasn't ready for it. I think if it had been made today, on HBO, it would do great.I took it down 1 because you may sense some 'Network TV' flavor, but that's only if you're expecting something as truly gritty as Breaking Bad... which is almost 20 years after.To this day, the portrayals of Mexicans in various roles hasn't been approached. These are some of the most memorable characters I have ever seen on TV.I also want to praise the music editor. The music selections were -miles- ahead of the competition. For a lot of people, Kingpin was their introduction to some a wide variety of great artists such as Leila Downes.

rmalmeida It's been a long time since I've seen such a well enacted and so realistic TV Series.It seems that the "narcotraficantes", some of whom I would call "NACOtraficantes" are just as real as the ones who vandalize and terrify Mexican life in the border as of today.It is somehow awkward the mix of English and Spanish and I just wonder if this is the kind of language spoken in the US-Mexican border. I've been to Laredo/Nuevo Laredo once and indeed it seems to be like this.It is also true that today the blood bath seems to be many times worse than when the movie was filmed.It's a shame that the series has been shut down.A friend of mine lent me the three DVDs and I couldn't stop until I saw all the episodes.

aredneck92 This show was the best show on tv. Too bad NBC didn't have the guts to keep it on tv. The show was great. The actors did an excellent job. The writers for the show came up with someone to keep you wanting to watch tv. This show is better than Sopranos. Yes it is a little edgy for network tv, but with the time slot that it was on made it ok. For the network tv they cut a lot out of the show that is shown on the DVD set. The DVD set shows how the producers wanted the show to be. Hopefully HBO will pick this show up and air it. Then it will have a network that won't be afraid to show it. For anyone that likes the Sopranos or Godfather will love this show and I highly recommend it. Miguel is cool and smart while Chato takes care of the dirty work.

steveher This series deserves to become a regular next season or at least a regular mini-series. The great plot points for the family and extended relatives have all been laid out. There was a surprising amount of depth to the episodes, ranging from the thoughtful to the hilarious. One thoughful point was the class snobbery, prevalant in Mexico, played out between the Senator and Miguel Cadenas. There were some laugh out loud moments, from Jacob Vargas' entire character of Ernesto (killed too early) to Dr. Klein's (Brian Benben) realization that he had been mispronouncing Romolo's name all along. "It's not Romuulo, it's Rrrromolo!" The only negative can be that we're asked to root for a drug kingpin. I thought perhaps America was not ready for that, but after seeing the "admirable" qualities of the beloved Sopranos I now ask-Why not?