Review of Get the Gringo (2012) by Dillon K — 27 Apr 2014

Co-written and produced by Mel Gibson, who conceived this film while making Apocalypto (2006) out in Mexico. Gibson gave it to his first assistant director from that film, Adrian Grunberg, to make his directorial debut with.

Despite it coming out when Gibson had one hell of a meltdown in the public eye, it is a very good crime thriller, with an original setting and a good plot. This tells the tale of a nameless driver (Gibson), who after a chase from the police, crashes through the US/Mexico border, and is taken into custody in Mexico by corrupt officers Vasquez (Mario Zaragoza) and Romero (Gerardo Teracena), who take all the money he stole from a heist, and have the driver incarcerated in El Pueblito.

The driver soon becomes known as The Gringo, and the prison turns out to be more an inner-city ghetto than a prison. But, with help from the kid (Kevin Hernandez) and his mother (Dolores Heredia), he plans to get even on those who put him in there, and get out and try and clear his name.

It's a lot better than it looks, and it shows that Gibson can still put in brilliant performances with the right material, and he got lucky with this crime caper. It owes a lot to what Gibson did in Payback (1999), and it it's violent but shot with a lovely golden hue, and it makes you hope Gibson can find his feet again as an actor.