THE STORY – In 1960, Fidel Castro comes to America to speak at the UN. He is invited by Malcolm X to stay in Harlem at the famous Hotel Theresa. Unsure of his intentions, the FBI, CIA and the Mafia, attempt to eliminate him by any means necessary.
THE CAST – Al Pacino, Diego Boneta, Xolo Maridueña, KiKi Layne, Ron Livingston, Alexander Ludwig, Nicole Beharie & Kendrick Sampson
THE TEAM – Eif Rivera (Director), Thomas DeGrezia & Leon Hendrix (Writers)
THE RUNNING TIME – 90 Minutes
“Killing Castro” has to be one of the biggest titles, if not the biggest, at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. It’s a star-studded directorial debut that doubles as a historical drama and political thriller, focusing on one of history’s most complicated political figures. Hell, any film playing in this festival that has Al Pacino in its cast must mean there’s something there worth seeking out. It also seems that in today’s cinematic landscape (at least in American filmmaking), modern filmmakers have lost the recipe for what made great political thrillers in the past. Unfortunately, director Eif Rivera can’t identify what made films of that pedigree so special because “Killing Castro” is a politically and narratively cluttered picture.
Rivera sets the stage for the film’s interwoven web of espionage with Xolo Maridueña’s opening narration from Loenel Reyes’s perspective. It’s an exposition dump that strongly emphasizes to audiences the impact that Cuban Revolutionary Fidel Castro (played by Diego Boneta) could have if he were able to deliver a speech to the United Nations. In 1960, during this period of the Cold War, the American government was clearly at odds with Castro’s views, not only seeking to slander his name but to sabotage his trip, even if it meant disposing of him by any means necessary. When Civil Rights leader Malcolm X, played by Kendrick Sampson, invites Castro to stay at the Hotel Theresa in Harlem as a haven to congregate and discuss furthering their causes, it all but motions the FBI, CIA, and even the Mafia to converge at this location. These powers, all unaware of each other’s presence, fight it out to get to Castro as he attempts to rise above these threats in an attempt to gather support for an economically crippled Cuba.
The film finds itself recycling political thrillers that have come before it to a far less effective degree. Shaka Khan’s “Judas and the Black Messiah” immediately comes to mind, as one of the main perspectives of the story is Maridueña’s Loenel, working as an undercover FBI informant already at the Theresa Hotel to spy on Malcolm X. While Castro’s arrival presents an opportunity to make a name for himself, Loenel soon finds his motivations and convictions challenged the longer he lives this life of deceit. It’s the only narrative strand that feels wholly constructed, as Thomas DeGrezia and Leon Hendrix’s screenplay is all too convoluted, opting for a variety of viewpoints that amount to elaborate set dressing at best. Multiple sequences in the film, whether botched assassination attempts or engagement in acts of reconnaissance, fail to create any sense of tension, leaving audiences sitting through a drama that’s anything but thrilling.
Rivera also doesn’t draw much from his deep bench of performers, as each character feels more like a chess piece to keep the story moving forward than a fully fleshed-out character with actual wants and desires. Boneta’s portrayal of Castro works at times, whenever he taps into the rugged charisma that won some of the public to his side. Yet, the depiction of Castro in this film is mostly that of a ruthless, almost gangster-like figure, which dilutes the message conveyed to viewers. Admittedly, Sampson honestly does steer toward the uncanny valley at times, but he’s also the only actor in the film that is making choices with his performance as Malcom X. “Killing Castro” would’ve benefited from Sampson and Boneta sharing more time on-screen and developing the relationship of two men who the governments, media, etc., similarly persecuted. Instead, Rivera wants to make a multifaceted political thriller, with characters weaving in and out, showing the depravity we’ll all go to to keep our heads above water. It’s the far less interesting decision that isn’t supported by Rivera’s technical acuity as a filmmaker, which is all but passable, never becoming as riveting as it is intended to be.
For someone top-billed, Pacino certainly is phoning it in, as his character, a CIA operative working in the shadows, mainly shows up for extended sequences of dialogue and then disappears, repeating the same thing over and over. It all builds to a muddled ending with an embarrassing conclusion that at least sees some of that Pacino ham we’ve grown to love over the years. “Killing Castro” is nowhere as vital as it thinks it is when the confused messaging that spends over an hour preaching to us only reneges its thesis at the very last second. It’s an unsatisfying watch that, frankly, starts at an underwhelming level and can’t quite find its groove all the way till the credits appear on screen.
