El Camino
Vince Gilligan’s directorial debut, El Camino follows Breaking Bad‘s Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) as he attempts to make his way out of Albuquerque in the wake of Walter White’s (Bryan Cranston) death. Filmmaker Gilligan delivers a consistently engaging and often appealingly surprising drama that benefits substantially from Paul’s superb turn as the tortured Pinkman, as the movie, which admittedly does feel more like an episode of the series than a full-fledged motion picture, progresses at a deliberate pace that effectively complements the somewhat spare and low-key nature of Gilligan’s screenplay – with the narrative methodically detailing Pinkman’s ongoing (and decidedly arduous) efforts at safely escaping the clutches of an encroaching police force. Gilligan has suffused the proceedings with a number of entirely welcome (and admittedly fan-friendly) cameos via several context-providing flashbacks, but it’s clear that El Camino is at its best when focused on Pinkman’s often perilous exploits. (There is, for example, a fantastic and thoroughly tense sequence revolving around the character’s trip to a dead adversary’s apartment.) The end result is a welcome addition to the Breaking Bad canon and a fine coda to the entire series, although it remains clear that newcomers to this universe will most likely find little here to wholeheartedly embrace.
***1/2 out of ****
The first half hour or so left me very cold about the film, and confused by the flashbacks. But I’m so glad I stuck with it. Lots of tension and thrills and another superb performance by Aaron Paul. It was only a day or so after I read Robert Forster’s obituary, when I saw this film, and obviously his scenes were especially emotional to watch.