Uma Noite no México

I doubt I've ever seen a Robert Duvall movie that was not worth watching and the same can be said of this one. Duvall plays a cranky old coot not ready to take up the rocking chair and I hope he isn't ready for a long time. A decent premise to the movie and several places that make you smile. If you like crotchety hard-headed old folks this is the movie for you. While in all respects a slow movie I didn't regret a minute. I wish IMDb didn't require ten lines for a review because I doubt I've had ten lines to say about any movie.But it's nice to be able to give one a good review, one that isn't cr*p found footage and one where the acting enabled the suspension of disbelief for a couple hours.

Robert Duvall is my favorite actor of all time but not even he could save this miserable script, poor directing and amateur cinematography. Other than Duvall, the other actors are worse than you would see in any high school play. The script is probably the worst I have ever seen produced. There are at least 30 scenes that were imitations from other, real films. Of course, they were very poorly executed. There were plot holes at every turn and others that just didn't make sense. I didn't bother to research but I cannot fathom how this train wreck got produced. I felt sorry for Duvall throughout the whole film. His performance was definitely not Oscar worthy and my mind drifted off, wondering if he has financial problems that would have led him to participate in this amateur endeavor. I have honestly seen much better productions from film schools.

I loved this movie. I get it. there are blockbusters, huge movies with great scripts...and there are small movies, with low budget and with lots of constraints. There is great connections between Angie, Duvall and the young kid. I agree with Patty Wafers when she said that in Mexico they are not afraid of living with old people. they love their seniors, unlike other cultures where seniors are nothing but dirt and they only belong in a retirement home. Duvall says " I am not done. I have places to go, things to do". why not? we are all going there sooner or later. this is a cute little movie. it has a lot of heart, great actors, excellente directing taking in consideration the challenges and the low budget. Excellent little movie. a little adventure is always good. dreaming about doing things you normally don't do can bring a sense of freshness and life into your heart. Duvall said he was afraid of dying with someone spoon feeding him...better die living, huh?

The story begins with an old Texan having to leave the ranch he has lived in his whole life, at the same moment he is suddenly introduced to a grandson he has never met before. They go off on a jaunt to Mexico where they end up hooking up with another lost soul, a singing stripper. Complicating matters considerably is the fact that they have inadvertently come into possession of a bag containing $150,000 - some violent criminals pursue them for this.

The chief draw of A Night in Old Mexico is the presence of veteran actor Robert Duvall. He certainly shows here that he still remains a very capable actor. It's a pity then that this film doesn't have a stronger storyline for Duvall to work off. It's effectively an odd couple movie, with a crime strand underpinning it. The first part works to a certain extent – Duvall's acting is good and the dialogue is often well written – but the dynamics between the three characters often seem a little forced, in particular it's quite hard really believing in the motivations of the Latina stripper character. The crime story, while fairly generic, does offer some potential excitement but it doesn't necessarily play out in such a way as to actually provide too much. Perhaps this is a good thing in some respects as it means that the film is maybe taking a different course to what you might typically expect. Whatever the case, the criminals operate in the background of the story and bump one and other off and they never really seem to pose that much of a threat to our heroes, which does dissipate the potential tension this could have created.

The location used by the story was pretty interesting though. The story takes place during the Mexican Day of the Dead holiday celebration. The purpose of which is to gather people together to pray for and remember friends and family who have died. This of course parallels the storyline of the film itself really well. Not only this but the strange skull-like masks worn by the townspeople as part of this celebration make for a somewhat memorable backdrop to proceedings, giving the film a nice distinctive feeling in this area. It's the specifically Mexican flavours that for the most part offer the best things about this flick.

A Night in Old Mexico was well-received in its North American Premiere at the SXSW Film Festival. Some of our great actors age poorly and take easy money making roles (such as Robert DeNiro in Last Vegas and the Meet the Parents series), but Robert Duvall is still doing some serious acting. In A Night in Old Mexico, he plays a character that is likely not that different from himself. He plays a crazy old Texan united with his wayward grandson and looking to have a last thrill ride in south of the border. In some ways, the role is reminiscent of Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman. The thrill ride takes a few unbelievable twists and turns, but it is still enjoyable to see how much spunk the old fellow still has. I'm not sure this will get much of a wide release, but if you have a chance check it out. Duvall remains a worthwhile entertaining old curmudgeon in old Mexico.