No, this definitely isn't garbage....I personally almost loved it, but there are some glaring, but not irredeemably marring flaws...It's bleak, it's ugly, excellently acted and shot, the directing is very good most of the time, with a few exceptions, it's at times goes right over the top, and that hurts it a little, Cameron Diaz's was hideously barren and empty in her role, well done, but her story arc, particularly the end was unnecessary and overreaching. Ridleys Scott's Juarez was gritty and well shot, except in a few spots, and I hated his use of comedic/light music, during a handful of scenes involving a septic truck, they needlessly took me out of the movie, and reminded me a lot of the awful scenes in 'Savages' like that. Why are poverty, desperation, 4th tier positions in organized crime funny? If it's meant to convey irony, I think it's mishandled.
Bardem outdoes his last performance with ease, as a 'club owner' and major player in over his head, Fassbender, despite some bad writing at the end, does a great job too. The bleak, obscureness of it all was very well captured, reminded me of 'Collateral', the plot isn't hard to follow, it's a few moving pieces and a lot we don't know, but we don't need too, just follow it's trajectory. Ridley Scott is subtle and artistic enough, and manages to avoid some of the failures of his other works, but he still manages to overreach by the end, it doesn't ruin it, but prevents it from being truly great. That's likely Mccarthy's fault, as some of the images he wrote, aren't as effective on film. Regardless, tense, and taut, tragic and funny, it's a great movie. Elements remind me of 'Captain Phillips', in a sense of opposing forces in conflict for almost arbitrary reasons, and the brute force of one, felt on another, without taking sides, just watching it unfold. Pitt is seamless as well, and gets a few underplayed and superbly written scenes, showcasing professionalism, weariness, cynicism, helplessness, nihilism, and tinges of regret and sympathy in a handful of brief conversations.