Sicario sequel star Josh Brolin on 'callous' US border separations
Star of Sicario: Day Of The Soldado describes 'visceral experience' watching border crisis, one of the themes of the movie
Relevance is often nothing more than good timing, and movies are lucky if they can capture the public imagination, spotlighting urgent issues just as they are leading global news bulletins.
Sicario: Day Of The Soldado, with its gut-punching focus on the immiseration of refugees trying to cross into the US from Mexico, often unaccompanied children, is one such film.
The sequel to 2015's Sicario opens here tomorrow, as the White House struggles to contain a border crisis that has seen more than 2,000 migrant children detained separately from their parents, often long distances away and in cages.
Its star Josh Brolin said he had found it a "visceral experience" to watch the unfolding crisis, caused by a policy enacted by US President Donald Trump that has shocked and angered most Americans polled on the issue.
"You look at it and you see the citizens come out and start to say, 'Wait a second. Where is the empathy here? Where is the fact that we are talking about people, about kids screaming in terror?'" he said.
The 50-year-old US actor is not against "zero tolerance" - and even ventured that "right now it feels like Trump has done something good" - but making children suffer, he believes, is beyond the pale.
"What are you going to do with the 2,000 kids that are separated? Just the whole thing seems so callous to me," he said.
Directed by Stefano Sollima, Sicario: Day Of The Soldado opens with the US government beginning to suspect that cartels have started trafficking terrorists across the US border.
Brolin reprises his role as Central Intelligence Agency agent Matt Graver, enlisting the mysterious black operative Alejandro Gillick (Benicio Del Toro) to escalate the war by kidnapping a cartel kingpin's daughter (Isabela Moner).
An intense action thriller like its predecessor, the sequel ventures deep into the merciless border world of drug dealing, human trafficking and US foreign policy.
The issue of child separations is all the more emotive for Brolin since he will soon be welcoming a daughter with his third wife Kathryn Boyd, 30.
It has been a long time since he had to change a diaper - his son and daughter with first wife Alice Adair are 30 and 25 respectively - but he is raring to go.
"I love children, I love being around children. So the idea of this is just wonderful," he said.
In the past year, he has seen his career peaking, with leading roles in superhero juggernauts Avengers: Infinity War and Deadpool 2.
This spasm of globe-conquering success has prompted film writers to enthuse about the "Summer of Brolin", although the man himself is scornful of the hype.
"What is next, the Fall of Brolin?" he said with a laugh.
"It is going to go up and down, and that is okay, that is to be expected."
PROJECT
Next up for Brolin, alongside the Deadpool and Avengers sequels, is The Untitled Josh Brolin Project, a Curb Your Enthusiasm-style self-parody comedy show he has created for Hulu.
As for another Sicario, he remains steadfastly non-committal, warming to the idea of teaming up for a third time with Del Toro but not wanting to "do it just to do it".
"We will see, man. I mean that really depends. I go back and forth in my head," he said.
"Part of me goes, 'Yeah, that sounds like a great idea.' And part of me goes, 'I don't know.'" - AFP
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