Mel Gibson: A Dangerous Gringo

Did you enjoy Lethal Weapon (all of them)? Do you remember Mad Max? What about Braveheart? If you are capable to find what all those films have in common it is because you like Mel Gibson. During the best part of his career Mel Gibson tried to get rid of that image of tough guy who could only star action movies and often tried roles where he could show his talent as a real actor (he even played Hamlet once). But it seems the audiences will forever link him to the image of crazy and tough as nails cop of the Lethal Weapon series. Wanna see him doing that again? Then you should see Get the Gringo, a movie where he is …a gringo. In fact he is an American con man that after being chased by the U.S. Police he accidentally crosses the border and ends up on the Mexican side where corrupt Mexican cops find he is carrying money, lots of them, so instead of giving him back they keep the criminal and put into a prison called El Pueblito to retain the money. But the “gringo” soon reveals to be more than your common criminal and with the help of a boy who lives in El Pueblito with his mother the gringo manages to take revenge against who put them in prison from both sides of the border, stop the crime lord who runs El Pueblito, have that awful place close down, recover his money and leave with the boy and his mother to some ignored place in the Mexican seaside.

The story is nothing spectacular but delivers some great moments. The setting is very realistic, especially the scenes in El Pueblito, and Mel Gibson still seems to have “the spark” For those nostalgic of times past seeing Gibson back in an action role will be a welcomed sight. The action scenes do not disappoint and the Mexican actors perform quite consistently though their roles are not really demanding.

In general I liked this film, but specifically I loved part of the dialog when a U.S. officer talks to one his Mexican peers trying to talk him into returning the criminal to them, but then the Mexican tell him: “You know what? The difference between you and us is you’re corrupt but you’ll never recognize it. We’re corrupt, too, but we’re honest about it.”

So true!