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Noriega: God's Favorite

Play trailer Poster for Noriega: God's Favorite TV-MA 2000 1h 55m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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50% Tomatometer 6 Reviews 30% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
After growing up in the tough streets of Panama, Manuel Noriega (Bob Hoskins) joins the military in search of a better life. He finds success there, eventually becoming dictator of the entire country. But he wants to hold on to his leadership at any cost, including murdering those who get in his way and working with dangerous drug cartels. Eventually he goes too far, and everyone, including his wife (Denise Blasor) and his mistress (Rosa Blasi), abandons him as U.S. troops invade.

Critics Reviews

View All (6) Critics Reviews
John Leonard New York Magazine/Vulture It would take a Garca Marquez, writing at the top of his Autumn of the Patriarch form, to bring off this odd amalgam of sadism and slapstick. Feb 6, 2018 Full Review Film Threat Rated: 3/5 Dec 6, 2005 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 2/5 Aug 10, 2005 Full Review Angela Baldassarre Sympatico.ca Rated: 2/5 Jul 27, 2004 Full Review TV Guide Rated: 4.5/5 Jul 30, 2003 Full Review Film Threat Rated: 3/5 Dec 8, 2002 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (3) audience reviews
Audience Member An awful movie. I would never recommend this film to anyone. For one, it's about Manuel Noriega (A PANAMANIAN). They have Bob Hoskins (A BRITISH GUY) playing him. I like Hoskins as an actor, but that's beside the point. Anyone who knows anything about culture, knows that we (Panamanians) are NOTHING like Brits, in any way. The casting directing was a complete idiot. For one, Panama's population of Europeans is love. Most of the people are a mixture of African, Spanish, and Indian. Most of the people were White or East Asian. Then, they story of Noriega is so much more interesting than this boring film. This could've been an instant classic if done correctly. Blame that on the writer. The bumbling idiot they portrayed him to be was asinine. Blame it on the director. An instant disaster film. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Audience Member The strength of this film is its acceptance of the inherent absurdity of historical events and staging them as a black comedy, rather than the usual somber historical drama. Bob Hoskins is excellent as the Panamanian dictator - it's always great to see an actor of his caliber tear into a strong, meaty role. Jeffry DeMunn steals his scenes as a passive-aggressive monsignor. It's clear director Roger Spottiswoode was limited by a TV movie budget, but he makes good use of the simple sets and locations. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member Bob Hoskins is not the most convincing Noriega, but the story flows and if you don't know the history is still very interesting. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Noriega: God's Favorite

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis After growing up in the tough streets of Panama, Manuel Noriega (Bob Hoskins) joins the military in search of a better life. He finds success there, eventually becoming dictator of the entire country. But he wants to hold on to his leadership at any cost, including murdering those who get in his way and working with dangerous drug cartels. Eventually he goes too far, and everyone, including his wife (Denise Blasor) and his mistress (Rosa Blasi), abandons him as U.S. troops invade.
Director
Roger Spottiswoode
Producer
Nancy Hardin
Screenwriter
Lawrence Wright
Rating
TV-MA (S|L|D|V)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Runtime
1h 55m