Get The Gringo opens with a car chase between the police and a car with three clowns. This scene perfectly sets the stage for what’s about to follow. And that’s a stylish crime extravaganza starring none other than Mel Gibson. He looks like a hardened criminal with nothing to lose but acts like a charming bad boy looking for redemption.
After all the Mel Gibson’s fuck ups, I think that this is something that he has done right. He was banned from all major productions after a series of incidents that portrayed him as racist, sexist and all the other -ist that you can think of. The man who created The Passion of the Christ was considered more evil than the Devil himself. And rightfully so.
With a ruined reputation, no money, no life, and no Azamat, Mel’s last movie The Beaver added even more weird feelings to this whole thing with him befriending and talking to a beaver hand-puppet. After this movie, all hell broke loose, and it seemed that his career was over. There was only one last thing that he could do… The last chance…
If he accepted all the hate that was channeled towards him and said fuck you, if you don’t like me fuck off, he would be a real-life bad-ass R-Rated action hero. This sort of re-branding was the only logical thing that he could do, and Get The Gringo is the beginning of a new badass Mel Gibson.
Now that we got that out of the way, we can proceed to the actual movie. It had everything that you would want from a gritty prison thriller except nudity. The lack of money was barely visible, although Get The Gringo would certainly benefit from better cameras and editing. The end product is not perfect but it is definitely watchable, especially with a great supporting cast.
We do not know his name, we do not know what he has done, and all we know is that he is trying to escape American authorities. After the car chase ends in Mexico, our unnamed hero ends up in a local prison that looks like anything else but the prison. Drugs, prostitution, fights, and every other vice that you can think of are perfectly legal in this enclosed city, that has only one rule: No one gets out.
And while Mexico certainly does not have prisons like this, they do indeed exist. For example, San Pedro prison in La Paz, Bolivia is practically a small city where prisoners live with their families. So, the story isn’t as outrageous as it seems. It doesn’t pretend it’s something that it’s not and the same goes for this movie. Get The Gringo is here to keep you entertained for ninety minutes and it does so effortlessly.
Mel narrates the whole movie making it a very immersive experience. Especially if you’re looking for that macho vibe of the eighties. There was a lot of talking and looking around for this type of movie but at least the script was pretty good. The action scenes were cool with stylish slow-motion shots of blood and bullets flying through the air. So, if you’re up for some prison entertainment do check out Get The Gringo, it’s definitely worth a watch.
Director: Adrian Grunberg
Writers: Mel Gibson, Stacy Perskie, Adrian Grunberg
Cast: Mel Gibson, Peter Stormare, Dean Norris, Bob Gunto, Dolores Heredia, Daniel Giménez Cacho
Fun Facts: First Mel Gibsons movie after the exile from Hollywood
Rating:
IMDb Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1567609/
