Cocaine Cowboys Review - Flavor Pill

Miami's high-and-low glamor has always been fueled by illicit goings-on lurking just below its neon-pastel veneer, a genuine griminess that far outstrips the soaped-up Hollywood versions of the Magic City's underworlds. Ideal fodder, in other words, for such a riveting documentary as Cocaine Cowboys. With a synthy soundtrack and fabulous '70s and '80s footage of the city's pre-celebutante heyday, this breakdown of the entire hegemony of Miami's real-life drug world — Columbian producers, Cuban distributors, US pushers, "weekend warrior" users, and government and bank elements looking the other way — begs the question of how else that grassroots capacity could be channeled today.

- LR