Billy Corben's 2006 documentary Cocaine Cowboys traced the rise of the
drug trade in Miami in the late '70s and early '80s, illustrating with
journalistic rigor—and no small amount of stylistic flash—how
obscene amounts of cash begat a culture of ostentation and senseless violence. Cocaine
Cowboys 2: Hustlin' With The Godmother jumps to the other side of the country, continuing
the story of one of the first film's most memorable characters: Columbian drug
baroness Griselda Blanco, whose attempts to consolidate power helped end Miami
trafficking's golden age. Pursued by the law, Blanco fled west, and was
eventually arrested in California, where news reports about her vast network of
dealers and assassins impressed Oakland crack-lord Charles Cosby. The two began
corresponding, and soon Cosby became a mentor to Blanco's son, Michael Corleone
(yes, that's actually what "The Godmother" named her boy) and deeply involved
with what remained of her operation. Soon, Cosby was a millionaire, having
conjugal visits with Blanco in prison, and living in constant fear for his
life.
Cocaine Cowboys 2 follows the same basic
format as its predecessor, leaning heavy on lengthy first-person anecdotes,
delivered directly into a moving camera. But because the new film's story is
more personal, with less file footage to draw on, Corben frequently illustrates
the anecdotes with garish animated re-enactments—a technique that's
rapidly becoming a cliché in modern docs. Cocaine Cowboys 2 also suffers from a
limited scope. While the first film's lull-free, headlong approach made sense
because there was so much ground to cover, CC2 is really only about two
people, and as such, it could stand to take a breath every now and then.
Still, the West Coast version of this story stands
on its own, serving not as an epilogue, but a necessary, fascinating
reflection. Cocaine Cowboys was about enterprising folks dabbling in crime
and getting filthy rich; the sequel is about two dirt-poor people who became
criminals by circumstance, and rose through the ranks by their wits. But their
problems are the same: supply, trust, and what to do when so much money comes
in that you run out of places to put it.
Key features: A commentary by Corben and producer-editor
David Cypkin, deleted scenes, and a behind-the-scenes look at how the interview
footage was carefully stage-managed.