Get the Gringo

Just finished watching this excellent movie, and I hadn't realized how much I missed Mel Gibs on. Like the man himself, the main character in this film, Driver, is worn and weary, sadder but wiser, and comfortable with the ironies of life. And the world built here, "El Pueblito," based on the actual prison in Tijuana, is real and startling. Portrayal of Mexico is outlandish at the same time it's sympathetic. Not much action, but shoot out scene in middle of movie is worth watching.

I understand this movie is getting no theatrical release in the US, and that's a shame. Just hope word of mouth will get around about this great movie. It's time to rehabilitate Mel Gibson.

It is no secret that the public has lost a lot of respect for Mel Gibson over the years. His hate-filled rants that once scattered the internet like littered candy-wrappers, identifiable aging, and modest releases over the years have proved that he may be wandering around a plain of confusion and uncertainty. It is a shame his new film, Get the Gringo, has gotten such a limited release, playing exclusively on DirecTV before eventually getting a wider VOD and DVD release later this year.

This is by no means a great film, but it holds up a lot better than recent action films boasting a huge actor has the lead (Taken is the prime example here) and packs in half the amount of incredulity as those as well. The story is concise and well-managed, centering around a nameless man (in the credits he's referred to as "Driver") played by Mel Gibson. He is a career criminal, with a vague history, an extensive amount of sarcasm, and a classic form of mystery plagues his character. After being nabbed by the Mexican authorities, he is thrown in a rotten, slimy prison, corrupt and dilapidated, as well as being run by shameless thugs and the occasional prostitute.

At first, Driver takes on the prison lifestyle with an iron fist. He becomes fearless, setting a fire in a market so he can steal a drug dealer's money, and even one of the best scenes in the film involves him knocking a man on a toilet unconscious before stealing his money and weaponry. He then learns that in order to move up on the prison ladder, he can't always be committing thievery and pursing the life of a determined rebel. That's where a nine year old watchmen comes in (Hernandez). As he assists Driver in teaching him the prison life, it isn't long before both of them become mixed up in a whirlwind of the same corruption ruining the prison today.

The cinematography and the overall environment deserves immediate commendable recognition. It makes a seamy place out to be seamy, and doesn't take the route of The Hangover Part II where it transforms a place into something so glum and ugly that it can't be enjoyed. Get the Gringo exists in a dirty, gritty world, and it wants to show it all.

Again, Gibson carries the film, much like he did in Jodie Foster's subpar The Beaver. Gibson resorts back to the sort of grittiness that he erected his odyssey of a career on; a man with no history in a dirty, filthy world where the only role you can play to have respect is "the bad cop." He is wonderful here, and manages to inspire a number of intriguing scenes that rarely become too comical or too unrealistic. There are many shoot-outs, but they are sometimes fun to watch. Even the car chase in the beginning is a riot.

It's a shame that Get the Gringo gets a sour run theatrically, debuting only one night in Austin, and a very secluded run on a Video on Demand service. This film is fun, non-challenging escapism that pleases because of its simplicity and action. After the mild success of Gibson's Edge of Darkness and the very underwhelming The Beaver, studios believe Mel Gibson is poison to the system. Perhaps, but let me remind you guys something; he made The Passion of the Christ - one of the most controversial and daring religious pictures in history. I believe the guy deserves more respect.

Starring: Mel Gibson and Kevin Hernandez. Directed by: Adrian Grunberg.

Get The Gringo(How I Spent My Summer Vacation) directed by Adrian Grunberg is one of the finest movies to come out in the mid-2012 and one of the best Mel Gibson movies.

The movie is scheduled to release on 1st May 2012 in the U.S.A,but luckily in the Middle East it released a few weeks back and I was glad to watch it.

Although the movie may be a bit similar to Mel Gibson's Payback,but still Get The Gringo is fresh and entertaining.

Story:- A career criminal (Mel Gibson) nabbed by Mexican authorities is placed in a tough prison where he learns to survive with the help of a 9-year-old boy (Kevin Hernandez).

Mel Gibson delivers one of the best performances ever.

Get The Gringo is a stylish move with loads of action scenes,dark,gritty,humorous,violent and above all entertaining.

The director Adiran Grunberg does an excellent job.

All in all,Get The Gringo(How I spent my Summer Vacation) is a not only a must-watch for Mel Gibson fans but also for those who are not because it is one of the best movies to come out in the mid-2012.I am giving a nine on ten for Get The Gringo.Strongly Recommended!

Which by the way was apparently the original title of the movie. But somehow they decided they had to change it. You decide which title suits the movie better. Gibson on the other hand can finally report good news. No mug shots or babbling, but a movie that actually is more than decent. Not perfect, but some very nice action scenes (movie starts off with one chase scene, that is "border-line" so to speak).

Mel Gibsons character also tries to continue a long tradition of men with no name. For a few pesos or dollars, though it's quite a lot and not just a handful. Movie has some nice dialog and it tries to stay as vague as possible, which is a good thing here. This can be good fun, if you don't think too much and too long about it

With Mel Gibson doing himself no favors in the public media over the last six years, GET THE GRINGO is a much-needed reminder of why we loved him so much for the twenty years prior to his scandalous headlines. While it was greatly refreshing to see Gibson on screen again in EDGE OF DARKNESS and THE BEAVER after an overbearing eight year absence, GET THE GRINGO does the best of capturing everything we truly loved about Gibson's performances: charm, wit, humor, edge. The script by Gibson, director Adrian Grunberg and producer Stacey Persky is an original and tight balance of humor, edge, and danger that can very easily be considered an unofficial sequel to the theatrical cut of Gibson's cult favorite, PAYBACK. While the character of GRINGO's Driver never reveals his actual name, he possesses a lot of the same qualities as PAYBACK's Porter, including a U.S. military tattoo, a chain-smoking habit, sticky fingers, an iron jaw, and a penchant for bloodshed. Grunberg's direction is also solid with an obvious love for Sam Peckinpah paraded throughout.

For those of us who endured so many years of understandable negativity towards Gibson for his personal troubles, GET THE GRINGO is the film we've long awaited. It's truly a shame this film won't be seen wide in the U.S. It would've been a better comeback vehicle than EDGE OF DARKNESS was meant to be. GET THE GRINGO practically screams, "Remember me? I'm still here, and I still got it!"

But if one thing is certain in the age of home entertainment, it is that every good film gets discovered by an audience. Sooner or later...