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MOVIE REVIEW: Gringo

Garth Cremona (RIP)

Comedy drama starring Joel Edgerton, Charlize Theron, and David Oyelowo.  A drug company in America produces most of their tablets across the border in Mexico.  When there is a hint that the company may be taken over by a bigger company the long time and dedicated employee Harold starts to see what he can find out.  Little does he realise that the two bosses of his company authorized sales of their drugs to a drug cartel in Mexico.  Wanting to cover up this crime the three of them travel to the factory.

It’s been a tough week health wise, I won’t bore you guys with details, but I haven’t been well.  I thought at the start of the week that a comedy would be a great thing, take my mind off myself, and have some much-needed laughs.  The first movie of the week didn’t offer that, I didn’t laugh once, which is rare for me with any comedy.  I knew that the next day was to have another comedy, this one called Gringo, I didn’t know what to expect.  I did laugh, not a lot, but I laughed.

The film is more about David Oyelowo who has held the belief all his life that if he’s a good guy then the world will reward him.  But it’s clear that his wife is messing around with someone and his finances, his boss is a money hungry self obsessive, and his other boss doesn’t care about anyone.  He’s a nice guy and Oyelowo can play this role well and easy.  When he’s going to Mexico for one of his regular trips to the factory the bosses come with him hoping to cover up the illegal sale of drugs to a cartel.  When they stop selling to the cartel things go from bad to worse for everyone.  Also it’s revealed that Harold’s wife is having an affair and that she is leaving him.  Thinking he’s going to lose his job and wife he stages a phony kidnapping.

You can pretty much write this film straight from the start yourself.  With one or two moments that take you by surprise, but it’s pretty much run of the mill, when you see the final credits or look at them now, you see that there is a strong influence of family and people trying to get producer credits.  So this is more a passion project.  I would think that the script in the hands of someone with a darker edge would have given it a boost.

It’s not that the film is terrible, it’s perfectly fine, and you could use this as a date night movie.  It’s just that it doesn’t go anywhere new with any of the story.  We’ve seen it all before.  Obviously the cast lifts it up a bit.  Theron is fantastic but is just playing the bitchy businesswoman that is so cardboard thin on character that you’re rolling your eyes.  She’s almost copying the character from the last Fast and Furious movie.  Edgerton is his usual dependable self, and having seen him in a lot over the past 12 months, there is never a repeat to the performance he gives.  Thandie Newton is my biggest problem with the casting, she has little to nothing to do, and is a far better actress than that.

Gringo is a perfectly fine entertainment piece.  It could have had a darker edge which would have it set apart from other films like this.  Gringo feels like a 90’s film that would start the summer and by the end of the season you’d forget all about it.  One of the reviewers who attended the screening made the comment that you’d watch this once, feel okay about watching it, and then forget that you would ever see it.  For me I would happily sit through watching this on TV in the future, it asks nothing from the viewer, and gives enough that you aren’t offended by the film taking up your time.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Director: Nash Edgerton
Writers: Anthony Tambakis, Matthew Stone & more..
Stars: Joel Edgerton, Charlize Theron, David Oyelowo & more..

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Garth Cremona (RIP)
Comic book creator and movie reviewer. You can find out more at www.dublinwriter.com
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