Get the Gringo is a direct-to-DVD movie that I had the chance to see
this afternoon, and I ask that all go see it because it is wonderfully done,
well directed, and the plot is intriguing and will take you by surprise.
Starring and produced by Mel Gibson, who delivered a lovely performance, the
plot matches this with the cultural differences between Mexico and the United
States. Adrian Grunberg crafted a masterpiece, with intense cinematography that
I really enjoyed, especially given the slum setting.
I have to say, several elements of the movie can come off wrong and
unrealistic, also the pacing didn’t match the proposed intensity. But the fun
you get from watching the movie is the story arc, the way the strings are so
closely knitted together that one wrong pull, the whole thing would come apart.
It’s impressive how they built such a complex plot around a story involving a
thief caught by corrupt cops and sent to a village-like prison. I applaud Mel
Gibson, who co-wrote the script with the director and produced the movie
through his own studio, Icon Productions.
Directed by Adrian Grunberg, who was the first assistant director on
Gibson’s Apocalypto, Get the Gringo is one movie I wonder why it didn’t get a
full box office release.
The prison set was done in Mexico; it was a slum run by another
criminal.
The story goes: a man (Mel Gibson) steals money from a drug lord and is
chased by police across the Mexican border. The Mexican police arrest him, keep
the 2 million he stole, forge fake charges, and throw him into the slum-like
prison.
In prison, Gibson’s character puts his stealing skills to work to
maintain a life where money speaks.
He also meets a kid (Kevin Hernandez) who is being treated specially by
the man who runs the prison.
Gibson and the kid team up for two different causes: Gibson to get his
money back, and the kid to kill the prison boss and protect his liver (you’ll
understand this when you see the movie).
Mel Gibson has done bigger movies and some misses like The Beaver, but
this is a good movie. Sad it’s not a family film. Also, other than Gibson, the
other characters did not perform as well, and the whole prison like village
thing, didn’t carry the same sense of urgency and fear that I guess they wanted
to pass across in this movie.
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