#
You would like to know how you
arrived to this point...
Even if you do everything right,
I mean, every little thing
you have got to do, everything,
you could still
cross the street and...
#
Remember, just take
a deep breath, relax.
Remember what we
talked about, okay?
Don't let that guy control
the situation, okay?
You want Ned to go with you?
No.
You sure?
Yeah.
I'll be right back.
All right.
Hi there.
Can I come in?
I have an appointment.
I'm Jules Land.
I'm here to see Mr. Santana.
Kerby...
(dog growling)
(squealing)
(laughter)
So...
you want to learn
how to run drugs?
No...no, like I said
on the phone,
I want to learn how
you run your business.
From the beginning,
you've been --
(laughing and yelling)
You're the best
in your industry.
I want to learn what
separates you from the others,
why you're different.
Why? Why?
(laughing)
What would you need?
Couple of interviews.
With me?
And your men.
Maybe an opportunity to
see a bit of what you do,
you know, how you do it.
Only what you're comfortable
showing, of course.
I will show you
whatever you want.
After all...
but, if you betray my trust...
Santos, he will feed
your balls to the dog.
It would be much easier to
teach you how I run drugs.
The boats are coming.
I like to watch them
as the lights grow.
It reminds me that
things take time.
People who think there
is a magic bullet...
it is never about one thing.
Anyone looking for one thing
is looking for a shortcut.
They always end badly.
Jules, come here a minute.
Sure.
You're pulling the plug
because it's too good?
I didn't say
I'm pulling the plug.
Who's going?
Jerry.
I'm sorry, the assignment
desk, we all agree.
We have to send someone
who's done it before.
How do you know what I can do
if you never give me a chance?
You've got potential, tons,
you're just not ready.
So when?
When do I get my chance?
Maybe next time, okay?
Come on, Jules!
Jerry!
Good luck.
Asshole.
It's not his fault.
Tom said I get the next one.
And you believed him?
Jeez.
What about your other idea,
the one about the cartels?
You tell him?
No.
Good man.
I'm not stupid.
He'd just say it's
not in the budget.
Or Jerry's calendar's full.
Yeah.
Why don't you go
do it on your own?
Freelance?
Yeah.
Right.
I'm serious,
what's stoppin' you?
Everything --
work, money.
The fact that I want
to live to see 34.
I mean,
this guy's psycho.
The stories
my wife tells are...
Are what?
Spooky.
So? Be careful.
Nah.
What if this
is your shot?
There'll be other shots.
Maybe.
My Spanish sucks.
I don't have the money
for something like this.
Find the money!
Hell, we could drive there
in three days, maybe two.
We're talking book deals,
speaking fees.
Thank you.
Seriously, man,
aren't you tired of this?
Tired of what?
Being somebody's bitch?
I got it.
Okay.
If we do this,
we share the by-line.
Great.
My younger brother,
Ned, speaks Spanish.
Hi, Dad.
Hi, pumpkin.
Still here?
Nice costume.
Thanks.
Shouldn't you be
at the airport?
Jules?
Huh?
You heard me.
I'm not going.
Sometimes,
god sends us signs.
Like he is gently
telling us to go forward.
Then, other times, he screams,
warning us to stop!
But we ignore him,
too desperate to accept
that we should just turn back.
Never ignore the signs.
God might be trying
to tell you something.
Don't go!
You have no idea what
you're getting into.
If there's a hell, I promise
you, it is that town.
#
I gotta find
a phone.
They got phones?
Look at that.
How bad would things
have to get, huh?
#
Buenos Dias!
Hi!
What brings you to Mexico,
business or pleasure?
Business.
And where are you headed?
Las Pesadillas.
You have business
in Las Pesadillas?
Yeah.
What kind of business?
It's a long story.
I have time.
Could you please
open the trunk?
And how long do you
plan on staying?
We don't really know.
You have business
in Las Pesadillas
and you don't have
a departure date?
Not yet, no.
That doesn't
sound good.
All depends on
how things go.
You are in Mexico,
and here...
nothing goes
as planned.
Opportunity is a curse...
you want a life
of mediocrity?
Follow the row
God plants you in.
You want success?
Do what you did, take a chance,
make it happen.
#
Hey, Ned?
Yeah?
What's a tope?
A color.
No, that's "taupe,"
t-a-u-p-e.
And, uh, that sign was yellow
and it said "tope", t-o-p-e.
They pronounce it toe-pay.
All right,
what's a toe-pay?
No idea.
What are you doing?
You want one?
No, I don't want one!
Oh, lighten up. You?
Is he for real?
What the hell was that, Vern?
I'm sorry, I'm sorry,
I didn't see it.
Next time, slow down,
you almost killed us.
Where did that
come from?
My bag.
What?
You brought drugs
across the border?
Give it to me.
What? No, no.
Give it to him,
I'm not kiddin'.
Give it to him or, I swear,
we'll leave you here.
(choking)
(laughter)
(sniffing)
He wants to know
if we're problems.
No, sir.
Las Pesadillas.
Las Pesadillas?
(screaming and
taunting in Spanish)
Shit.
Pay him.
How much?
Make it 40.
Maybe you were right.
About what?
Nobody's putti'
a gun to our heads.
We don't have to do this.
El exito tiene que ver
con la calidad de su gente.
Your biggest mistake?
Go long, bro!
Great! Learn to throw!
#
Ned! Ned!
#
So how is my niece?
Oh, she's, she's good.
When she was a little girl,
I would bring her here,
to this beach.
She was an angel.
You are a good husband?
From what she tells me, yeah.
She's happy.
Good.
Oh, jeez...
I burn easy.
Thanks.
So...how will this work?
Pretty simple.
I'll ask a question,
you answer.
If you want something
off the record,
just say, off the record, okay?
You get to view the piece
before I publish,
so if you want to make
a change, that's okay, too.
We'll take out
whatever you want.
That one.
Okay, then...
How'd you get your start?
My start?
How do you get involved
in drug trafficking?
That...that is a very
complicated question.
#
Angelito!
Que paso, mi hijo?
Is your father alive?
Yeah.
Are you close?
Yeah, we're close.
Then you are lucky.
My father...
...was a great man.
He was a simple
fisherman, but very wise.
Always pay attention to
the advice of your father.
One day, I ask him
what to do with my life.
I hoped he would say,
be a fisherman.
I wanted him to say this,
because we could work
together on the boats.
You know what he told me?
He said...
...I was so disappointed.
But then, he said something
I will never forget.
He said not to worry
about what to do.
Instead, he told me to work
hard, to surround myself
with people who
share my principles.
He sounds very special.
He was.
I loved and respected my father.
I miss him very much.
People, Jules,
it all starts with people.
What if you had to choose
a different career,
what would you have done?
Had I not
organized the Cartel?
Yeah.
That is easy, I would
have become a priest.
(congregation singing)
#
Do not be surprised.
I was following the row
God had planted me.
I wanted her from that
first day in the church.
To this day, people think it was
the money that led me to him.
It was his daughter.
#
We convinced him to
give us the opportunity
to prove ourselves.
We told him we would
run his drugs.
But for myself and Santos,
they were all caught.
It was a game of numbers.
Don Amilkar threw
product at the border
knowing some would get through.
The man lost 90 percent
of his product
because he did not think.
How'd you win his approval?
We presented him the
opportunity of a lifetime.
We gave him new ways
to run his drugs.
So that's how you do it?
No, that was the first
of many attempts
to build a better mousetrap.
Like the birds, most went wrong.
What was wrong
with the birds?
(shotgun blasting)
So it was back to
the drawing board.
#
We even made his old
ways more efficient.
And so exactly a year after
that day in the church,
I married his daughter.
(cheers and applause)
I gave him grandchildren.
(baby crying)
I took his life.
What?
Off the record...
it still Angers my wife.
#
Papa!
(gunshot)
He suggested
I kill my father.
There was only one way
I could live with such guilt.
(grunting)
To be fair, he was right.
It was good advice.
Now, you will excuse me.
Tsk! Tsk!
I have some business
to attend to.
That's all right,
we're done for today anyway.
We will continue this
afternoon, after I return.
We can do that.
Just give me a call.
Here's the number
to the hotel.
A hotel?
No, you and
your friends,
you stay with my family,
in my house.
That's not necessary.
But it is.
I will return shortly.
In the meantime, relax,
enjoy the Mexican sun.
When my wife and children
have tired of the beach,
they will see you
back to the house.
Thanks.
#
16 billion.
Not pesos,
but dollars?
Si.
What's your gross?
Mucho.
Go ahead, feed him
your leftovers,
he'll love you forever.
16 billion dollars.
You have a wonderful home,
but I wouldn't have guessed
that you were so...
Blessed?
We live simply.
Comfortably, for sure.
But not the life of your
typical billionaire.
It's constraint
which keeps me from
sharing the fate
of Pablo Escobar.
And generosity.
Many hospitals and schools
carry my husband's name.
We have many legitimate
business ventures --
Casinos, strip clubs,
brothels, smoke shops,
even a chain of liquor stores.
An outsider would think
our portfolio quite diverse.
You're not that diverse.
Well, it depends on your
definition of business,
but I'd say you're
wholesale distributors
of debauchery and sin.
And no one does it better.
Did you know, that of
the 20 known plants
that produce cocaine,
only two produce enough
to justify commercial
cultivation?
We grow neither.
You will never
taste a better flan.
It's why I hired him.
Gracias.
De nada.
You were saying something
about production?
Yes...of the product
we export into...
...we produce none of it.
We import our supply from
Columbia, Bolivia, Peru.
To put it simply, our passion
does not lie in manufacturing,
but in creating and maintaining
a system of distribution.
Tomorrow I will show you.
(goats whining)
Livestock wasn't
on the list.
(gunshot)
You know, my product
is one of the world's
only tried and proven
aphrodisiacs?
But I do not suggest using it
to enhance your lovemaking.
The truth is,
it suppresses the sex drive.
Do you know why?
Because it's actually more
pleasurable than having sex.
#
You will never
taste a better flan.
(laughing)
Not livestock...
distribution.
We add cobalt
and ferric chloride
to mask the smell
from the dogs.
A long way from
birds and slingshots.
(phone ringing)
Remember that business
I left you for at the beach?
Yeah.
We were unable to
find a resolution.
This problem, this man,
he ran away.
Smart guy.
He stole from him.
Stupid guy.
You know what he stole?
We gave this man a choice.
Let our product through, or
look for another line of work.
What'd he do?
Now we speak to him.
Ask him again to cooperate.
Then, if he still
chooses not to cooperate...
#
(dog barking)
(girl screaming)
(gunshot)
Oh, Jesus!
(gunshots)
#
Some say drugs promote
contact with the spirit world.
Now, what do you
think of my work?
Off the record.
What you did was horrible.
Horrible?
Yes, it was.
Why?
In the epic battle
of good versus evil,
between the white hat
and the black hat,
I find the black
hat fits me best.
Besides, wearing the black hat,
it's far more interesting.
Tonight, I have made
arrangements for you
to see something
very special.
You will go with
Santos to the boats.
Hey, I don't do
very good on boats.
We've seen a lot;
I don't seem to be --
I don't want to come
across as ungrateful,
but it's just
a lot to process.
Can we do this tomorrow?
No.
All right then, we'll
be ready whenever he is.
Excellent.
Then I leave you
in capable hands.
Gracias.
De nada.
Given what just happened,
if I were you,
I wouldn't take
any more photos.
Yeah...
I want to go home.
You never said we were going to
follow around El Diablo here.
(whistling)
Come on.
This is stupid.
Come on.
#
(speaking Spanish)
What'd he say?
We've arrived.
Where?
(speaking Spanish)
Some kind of
fishing lure.
Holy shit!
I got to get
a picture of this.
I don't get it.
What?
Why did he want
us to see this?
I told you, I don't
do too good on boats.
You'll live.
Thank you.
Look inside...
give me that.
Come outside,
check this out.
Be careful.
I'm not going anywhere.
That'll leave a mark.
Would it eat a man?
Yeah, they'd eat you.
Why is it
in your bag?
I don't know!
I told him I don't know!
No, I swear!
(screaming)
(whimpering)
(screaming)
(sobbing and yelling)
Ah...oh God!
Somebody? Help!
Jeez...
What happened?
Forgot it was there.
You okay?
No...
What's wrong?
Just hang tight,
I'll be back in a second.
I can't understand.
You knew about this?
I didn't know anything
about it, I swear.
Let me find out what's
going on here, okay, please?
Where'd this come from?
From the train yard.
I'm so sorry,
I wasn't thinking.
Please, Jules, please,
help me, please!
I don't think sorry's gonna
cut it with these guys.
Help me!
No! No! No! No!
No! No! No! No!
Please, I'm so sorry!
Please, I'll pay you,
I swear to God!
Please, I swear to God!
#
Your little project has
become an inconvenience.
Ned -- your men --
I know what they did!
And if I were you, I wouldn't
be worrying about your friend.
I'm sorry, things
got out of hand.
Yes, they did.
Where's Vern?
Thank you.
A bullet would have
been cheaper...
but...
a man should only have
to pay for his own sins.
The both of you will depart
first thing in the morning.
#
Jules?
How you feelin'?
My leg hurts like hell.
I think they set it wrong.
(laughing)
(crying)
What am I going
to tell my mom?
Get some sleep,
tomorrow we go home.
#
#
#
(yelling in Spanish)
What's going on?
What's wrong?
What'd I do?
Tell me...
was she worth it?
Was who worth it?
My wife, was she worth it?
What?!
Oh, God, I swear!
We didn't!
I didn't do anything.
Nothing happened.
No?
No, no!
I certainly understand
the temptation.
Your body, it screams to you.
You convince yourself
that such an opportunity
may never again
present itself.
So you go ahead, you do it!
She came onto me,
but I didn't take the bait.
Write this down.
No great man...
ever complained...
of want of opportunity.
It is much like those squid --
it simply grabs for what it
wants, motivated by appetite,
never knowing when the next
opportunity will come.
It has no vision,
no comprehension...
of what is the long term.
Are you following me here?
You know what someone should
tell those poor little squid?
(shovels scraping dirt)
#
(groaning)
(gunshot)
(laughter)
Oh, God.
(clicking)
(clicking)
(gunshot)
(groaning)
We'll just have to
see how far it gets us.
How far?
I don't know,
ten, 15 miles maybe.
Sure we're going
the right way?
The border is north,
that's north.
Maybe we should find
a town, get a phone.
Okay, you're driving.
Which way?
Come on.
What?
Get on.
Hola.
Hola.
#
#
Hey!
Do not look so
surprised, Jules.
Distribution is my business.
Please, don't do this.
Do what?
Kill us.
You're right...
Pancho will drive
you to the airport.
After all, you did
not steal from me.
By now, you should know what I
do to those who steal from me.
(pleading in Spanish)
(gunshot)
I will miss his flan.
Will you still
write your article?
When you are ready,
contact my secretary.
I wish to review your work
prior to its publication.
Sure.
Jules...
I am a ruthless,
murdering son of a bitch.
It is what I am.
But you?
You are a choir boy,
not some cowardly bastard
who cheats on his wife.
#
Good or evil,
we are what we are.
But what makes us different,
you and me,
is that I stand
by my principles.
You? You abandoned yours.
Now look.
You had a vision, a plan,
you took a risk, and you failed.
But now, you must ask yourself,
despite the failure,
was it worth it?
Huh?
Was it worth it?
You're right, maybe
I shouldn't have come...
but at some point,
you can't just sit there.
So you... you go for it.
Please.
I'm sorry.
It was a...
it was a mistake.
I love my wife.
Please.
I want to go home!
(gunshot)
#
(answering machine beeping)
Hey, just calling to let you
know, we made it across.
So I don't want
you to worry, okay?
I'll give you a call once
we reach Las Pesadillas.
I love you, see you soon.
(answering machine beeping)