‘Emilia Pérez’ Hits Some Exhilarating Highs but is Largely Uneven

metroweekly.com:

Emilia Pérez hits some exhilarating highs. The score, a heady mix of marches, rock, electro, and hip-hop composed by Clément Ducol and French singer Camille, steps off to a strong start with “El Alegato” (“The Argument”).Zoe Saldaña, underrated for the heartfelt credibility she brought to three different billion-dollar fantasy film franchises, leads the song-and-dance as Rita Mora Castro, a principled but worn-down attorney in the public defender’s office of Mexico City.Throughout the film, Saldaña imbues Rita with the same gravitas that made her Gamora the emotional linchpin of The Guardians of the Galaxy, adding the charge of a trained dancer’s physicality to Rita’s presence even outside the musical numbers.In “El Alegato,” Rita, rapping solo in her apartment and marching with the public she defends, puts the final touches on closing arguments in defense of headline-grabbing client Gabriel Mendoza, accused of murdering his wife.

She won’t be the one to deliver her words in court, but, following the verdict, she receives a call from a mysterious would-be client offering a lucrative proposition that could free her from the drudgery of the P.D.’s office.As a crime story — there’s a powerful drug lord on the other end of that call — Emilia Pérez offers a fairly conventional, though compelling, drama of a cartel king attempting to bury his past and start a new life.

Mexican drug lord Manitas Del Monte happens to have heaps of money to throw around in pursuit of his goal, but, even for an outlaw with such crazy pull, he’ll face stiff complications.Del Monte is portrayed by Karla Sofía Gascón, a trans actress heavily made-up in the rugged male role, and wielding an effectively menacing rap flow in Del Monte’s initial.