Old Gringo

Mexico in the teen years of the last century was no place to be, not even for Mexicans as the country broke down completely after the overthrow of dictator Porfirio Diaz. A lot of people grabbed for power, including one Pancho Villa who got emboldened enough to cross the U.S. border and shoot up Columbus, New Mexico. That got Woodrow Wilson to sending the army to capture Villa without success.

But that's getting way ahead of this story. It concerns American writer Ambrose Bierce who went to revolutionary Mexico and disappeared into obscurity much in the manner of the French poet Francois Villon. The plot of this film offers a theory as to what could have happened to Bierce.

Dominating the film is Gregory Peck in the title role. He captures Bierce in all of his sardonic cynicism for which his writing lives on. This Bierce has all the reason to just want to leave his world behind, his wife had recently died, but not after being discovered to be involved with another man. Two of his three children, both of his sons died violent deaths. Bierce was a man who felt he had no reason to live on.

Peck gets involved with two other people in a romantic triangle, Jane Fonda as a spinster who gets hired to tutor some landowner children and Jimmy Smits who's using the revolution to settle some personal scores with that same landowner family. In fact Smits gets himself rather caught up in the whole ambiance of being to the manor born with what he feels are good reasons.

All though all three of the leads have been in much better product, Old Gringo still is a good piece of cinema and does capture some of the anarchy that was revolutionary Mexico.

The idea for this film isn't bad. Back in 1913, a sickly and aging writer (Ambrose Bierce) decided to go to one of the most exciting and dangerous places on the planet--Mexico during the revolution that followed the ouster of the dictator, Porfirio Diaz. While no one knows for sure why he chose to do this, the film's contention that he was suicidal and wanted to "go out with a bang" seems quite reasonable. However, exactly what happened to the man is a total mystery--and to this day no one knows exactly what happened to him. Contact with his simply stopped! This film seems to create a fictionalized idea of what COULD have happened to Bierce (played by Gregory Peck). However, the film did so by creating a fictionalized character of an American teacher (Jane Fonda) who gets tricked into walking into the midst of the fighting--and, naturally, slowly is won over to the side of the soldiers of Pancho Villa--though Villa himself does not appear in the film until the end. In the meantime, Fonda and Peck meet with and spend time with General Aroyo (I have no idea if he was a real person or fictionalized--I assume he was fictionalized since I found nothing on him on the internet). Aroyo is played by Jimmy Smits.

So what did I think of this film? Well, on one hand it was a lovely film. The music and cinematography worked together to make a film that was quite pleasing to the senses. The slow pacing and evocative spirit was quite nice. Plus, the three leads are all very good actors and you have to respect their talents. However, despite these factors, the film also had a lot of problems--too many to make it worth seeking out yourself. While it looked good, the film was, after a while, incredibly boring. The plot just seemed to stagnate after a while and seemed to go no where--like they never really worked out the plot completely. And, the most serious problem is that it's hard to like or relate to the characters. Just when you start to connect with them, they behave in ways that make you either hate them or wonder what the @%## motivates them. It's rare to see a movie that has characters that are more ill-defined--and excellent acting can't make up for that.

There is one final problem with the film, though most who watch it won't realize it. As a history teacher, I was well acquainted with the Mexican revolution. The various factions, frankly, were all pretty screwed up! While there were things to admire about Pancho Villa and his faction, he was also a blood-thirsty bandit as well as reformer--provided HE was the one doing all the reforms. As for the alternatives, they weren't any better. The ideas of land reform and democracy were wonderful--too bad no one leading any of the factions really did anything to actually improve the lot for the average Mexican! A lot of people died, but essentially the country wasn't much better off when all was said and done. So, in a war when there are no clear "good guys", who do you care about in this film?!

As for Miss Fonda and Mr. Peck, they both have been long-time leftists--and very pro-revolution. I strongly suspect that this is why they made this film. I am all in favor of revolution when it means getting rid of evil, but like the Beatles song "Revolution", such movements need to have more to them than just a desire to change things. I wish in hindsight they'd chosen a more productive and life-changing revolution to dramatize--such as the "Velvet Revolution" Czechsolovakia or the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Just my two cents worth.

Opulent mess that died at the box office and with critics alike in 1989. In early-20th Century Mexico an American school teacher (Jane Fonda) is kidnapped by a desperado (Jimmy Smits) and his rebellious gang. The titled character (Gregory Peck) is slowly dying of an illness and tries to get himself killed by Smits on numerous occasions as he also tries to get Fonda to safety. Strangely a bond develops between Smits and Peck just as Fonda becomes Smits' lover and then surprisingly Fonda learns who Peck really is and falls in love with him as well (and also tries to fulfill his dying wish). "Old Gringo" is a lot of smoke and sand that tries to become the "Dr. Zhivago" of its time, but falls completely. The big-name performers cannot make it through a story that drags along and never gets to a suitable pay-off. The direction is disastrous too and we are left with a huh? movie that really means nothing at all. 2.5 out of 5 stars.

This is a novelization of writer Ambrose Bierce's mysterious disappearance in Mexico during the bloody revoution in 1913. Features two big-name stars: Jane Fonda in the unlikely character of a virgin schoolteacher and a wasted Gregory Peck in the title role, adding atmospheric sets and costumes. A North American teacher, Harrier Winslow (Jane Fonda, besides carrying the voice-over), recently arrived in Mexico to work in a wealthy family, finds herself involved in this outbreak of the Revolution. In this situation she lives a romance with one of Pancho Villa's generals , Arroyo (Jimmy Smits' silly moustache), while at the same time she finds herself attracted to Gringo Viejo (Gregory Peck), a North American writer who has traveled to Mexico to die. In the autumn of his years Ambrose finds a surrogate family, a daughter and a satisfying quietus. Harriet Winslow is something of a stereotype, initially brittle and later melted by love. Some people spend their whole lives searching for something !. Some people find it. A woman inspired by a man of dreams swept into the arms of a general, and drawn into a worlds of danger !.

Novelist Carlos Fuentes speculation about what actually befell writer Ambrose Bierce when he joined Pancho Villa's revolution down Mexico way in 1913 makes a riveting but no superior story. Technical troubles and cheesy script spoil the triumph that the producers expected, which turned out to be a commercial flop. Enjoyable but uneven film, it is rich in characters, Mexican environment, relationships and cultural clashes. The movie, though it doesn't look particularly notable, and often sounds rather literary, certainly bulges with content, and the principals, Ambrose Bierce: Gregory Peck, middled-aged spinster: Jane Fonda and revolutionary general Arroyo: Jimmy Smits grab the dramatic opportunities with both hands. The picture can't substantiate its claim to play out the personal drama in terms of this thunderous period history, but it's a worthy project and will probably send people back to the book in order to explore better the interesting roles and even better to Ambrose Bierce himself. Functional acting by all: Jane Fonda, Jimmy Smits but Gregory Peck, whose presence is wasted in a sketchy and unlikely role. They're accompanied by a fine cast, mainly Mexican secondaries, such as: Gabriela Roel, Jenny Gago, Patricio Contreras, Sergio Calderón, Jim Metzler, Josefina Echánove, Pedro Damián and Pedro Armendáriz Jr.

In Old Gringo(1989) excels the sensitive and evocative musical score by Lee Holdridge. Likewise , a colorful and brilliant cinematography by cameraman Félix Monti. The motion picture was unevenly directed by Luis Puenzo, including some flaws, gaps and shortcomings. Luis Puenzo was born in Buenos Aires (1946) Argentina, he's a director and producer known for Luces en los zapatos (1973), Las sorpresas (1975), La peste (1992) y Broken Silence (2002), La puta y la ballena (2004) and especially La historia oficial (The official story1985), which won the Oscar for Argentina for best foreign film. Rating: 5.5/10. It is a passable and acceptable film, but better to read the novel.

Gregory Peck's over the top performance and Jimmy Smits in over his head do not however destroy a good story. Jane Fonda truly loved this story but even she looks lost in the pages told. But just imagine the last days of Bitter as recounted here. Just picture the upheaval and pain so universally shared by any people in the throes of hell and in the midst, yeah corny, but in the midst of that pain, the universal tale of hope and love. Sacrifice for something bigger than yourself. A story teller must always moralize. Worth the watch. All romantics welcomed. (PS Note to director: There are light skin Mexicans (not me but others) - no need for the garish make-up - ugh.)