It’s no surprise that Pablo Escobar’s decades-long rise from petty street crime to the “The King of Cocaine” has inspired more than a dozen iterations on screen. Beyond the varied TV documentaries, his persona has loomed large in cinema and the small screen ever since his inspiration for Paul Shenar’s Sosa character in 1983’s “Scarface”; Cliff Curtis’ brief but effective turn in “Blow”; last year’s “Escobar: Paradise Lost” starring Benicio del Toro; and the fantastic documentary “The Two Escobars.” The list of upcoming and recent failed attempts at telling Escobar’s story is nearly as long (Oliver Stone and Joe Carnahan each tried, unsuccessfully, to mount a film), and while the kingpin is clearly attractive to Hollywood and beyond, one constant remains — he’s yet to be the lead character in his own story. And it’s an unfortunate fact that continues with “Narcos,” the latest Netflix original series that purports to tell the epic tale of El Patrón but for some...
