REVIEW: Gibson returns in dark, political film

Mel Gibson embraces the dark side of the criminal underground in his movie “Get the Gringo.” The film is an R-rated, action/crime movie set in the seedy side of Tijuana. The film was written, produced and acted in by Gibson. It marks the directorial debut of Adrian Grunberg, who has previously been an assistant director on many productions like “Man on Fire” and “Apocalypto.” 

Gibson plays the titular character known as “Driver,” a career criminal in search of the money he stole and that was stolen from him. The young Kevin Hernandez plays “Kid” and Dolores Heredia plays his mother. Rounding out the cast are the antagonists: Mexican actor Daniel Giménez Cacho plays Javi, the de-facto crime boss of El Pueblito, Mario Zaragoza plays Officer Vasquez, and Peter Stormare, plays the Frank, the crime boss who originally had all of the money.

Lately, Gibson has been a very difficult person to talk about. His true personality is well known after his drunk-driving arrest back in 2006. While his anti-Semitic rant during the arrest makes him a hard person to talk about objectively, Gibson is a good actor, writer, and one of the best directors in Hollywood right now. He knows what makes a good movie: a good blend of action, cinematography and story. After a few years’ hiatus, he has recently been returning to his acting roots, and he shows that he’s still got what it takes to give a good performance.

As the movie opens, Driver and his unnamed partner in crime are dressed in clown outfits and eluding Mexican authorities near the U.S., Mexico border. In the back of their getaway vehicle is four million dollars – how they came to get the money is unknown. After an unsuccessful attempt to jump the border fence, Driver and his stolen money are nabbed by corrupt Mexican authorities. He is sent to a tough prison called “El Pueblito,” where there are no prison cells – there’s just a wall that keeps prisoners and the society they’ve made inside. It isn’t an easy place to live – especially for an outsider. He befriends a 10-year old boy named “Kid,” who’s a chain-smoking child who knows the ropes of prison life.  Driver also gets romantically involved with Kid’s mother.  The rest of the movie is about Driver’s attempts to ultimately either escape from the prison with his money, or help the Kid and his mother escape to a better life outside prison walls.

While the premise of the movie and the idea of El Pueblito are absurd – it is totally believable. El Pueblito is a dirty place populated by even dirtier people. The actors know what kind of movie this is and they know how to play their characters well. The movie has a certain style to it that makes it good. Much of the plot is told through narration by Gibson, and it adds a certain humor to an otherwise dark and violent film. All in all, “Get the Gringo” is a good movie that can be found on Netflix and is definitely worth a watch.