Wasp Network in its early minutes promises to deliver everything we have come to love about films set in the Latin American milieu - gorgeous landscapes and beautiful actors with plenty of swag, audacity of ambition, groovy music and tons of drama. As you glide along the flight path of Cessna aircrafts between Cuba and Florida, we dare you take your eyes off the stylish frames bursting with colours.

So there is Edgar Ramirez playing a tourist pilot Rene Gonzalez, who has no faith in Castro’s regime (esp post the collapse of the Soviet Union) and leaves behind his clueless wife Olga ( a terrific Penelope Cruz) and daughter Irma to join a covert operation in Miami, Brothers to the Rescue. As the man who is tormented at being separated from his wife and daughter and his commitment to the larger cause, Ramirez puts in a sterling performance. He spends days courting danger at every step as a key player in the underground network that helps those fleeing Cuba for Florida, but also does not lose sight of his other personal ambition - to bring his wife and daughter to the US. There is a lovely chemistry between them, and even when Olga hurls abuses at the seemingly treacherous husband, you know they share a very special bond. It is a charming love story that plays itself out in the angry words and exasperation, providing a solid background to the political drama that is unfolding at another level.

But this is not the only story that will command your attention. Narcos star Wagner Moura literally swims his way into the story, as the flamboyant former Cuban pilot Juan Pablo Roque, who seeks asylum in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, and is soon feasting on fries, burgers and enjoying the American good life, including a dazzling Rolex on his wrist.

Moura is electric as Roque, whose blinding charisma is a smokescreen to his other devious plans, but we are not giving away spoilers here. “I am a star” he says to his suspicious wife Ana (Ana de Amaa), who wonders how he is able to fund his lavish, extravagant lifestyle, when his only source of income is an advance he received for his autobiography. Intriguing much? But the problem with Wasp Network is that it gets too obsessed with the multiple threads of the story, as more characters are introduced, more twists and turns and sub plots than you can wrap your head around. Bombs go off, homes are bugged by the FBI, husbands go missing, moles and spies run amok as drugs, guns and money threaten to alter the destinies of governments. Perhaps staying as close to the source material in their espionage drama also meant steering away from the emotional inner lives of the characters and somewhere into the film, you are left wondering if you can really latch on to any character, or any plot line, to stay hooked till the end of the film. Which is a pity really, given Ramirez and Cruz’s fabulous performances and the excellent cinematography. But even the toughest and brutally honest of stories need to strike a strong emotional note, and Wasp Network strikes a bum one at that. In fact, you will stop caring about what happens to any of the characters, despite the actors making the most of the half arcs they seem to have been given.

Assayas’s cult following is largely inspired by his award winning mini series Carlos the Jackal (starring Ramirez), about the legendary Venezuelan terrorist. The series was compared to Munich and The Bourne Identity for the way Assayas had demystified a larger-than-life character. Those expecting an encore with the Wasp Network, simply because the director has a similar material (real histories, real people, contemporary settings) and the same toplining actor, will be in for a let down.