Hollywood loves bombast. Hollywood loves crime. Hollywood can't sell it like the real thing (nor do they particularly seem to want to). This doc is about the real thing and the best screenwriters can't write this stuff like these real life criminals. This movie blows what really did happen in Miami in the 90's out in the open and it really is hard to believe stuff like this actually went down. It did and now we get a peek and it's mind-blowing. One guy even beat Pablo Escobar out of 10-million dollars. A group of three guys bought two heavy Russian military helicopters and were about to actually buy a Russian submarine before one dissappeared and brought the deal to a halt. It's very conceivable the sub deal might have happened even as the US Armed Forces and all of the 3-letter agencies were scrambling to attempt to stop it. Later it seems a sub deal of a different yet still Russian kind did happen! These guys, at least several of them, weren't hiding in the shadows but actually living extremely large and flamboyant with well-known businesses. It's a lot to take in and one knows we get the highly filtered and mega-condensed version of what they were actually up to. It's more than enough and the film keeps the viewer in wrapt amazement as to what is revealed. It makes you wonder how many other criminal enterprises are out there but totally dark. The fact that none of these men are currently spending their lives in jails is equally mind-blowing. And there is one who, somehow, has managed to escape both the cartel's vengeance and Interpol still while actually granting an interview. Like I already said writers couldn't get all these ingredients in any believable way yet here it is. This is one engaging documentary from start to finish. It really does make one's jaw drop.
Review of Operation Odessa
