It’s not every day that you can find a movie that will make everyone happy — but The Mexican will. I’d say that it falls into the same category as The Princess Bride. It’s an action movie. It’s a romantic comedy. It’s a drama. It’s got gun fights and hitmen and love stories and an old rabid dog.
Brad Pitt stars as Jerry — a screw-up who’s worked five years of his life to pay back mobster Arnold Margolese (Gene Hackman) who was sent to prison because of Jerry’s stupidity. Jerry’s girlfriend, Samantha (Julia Roberts) has put up with it for five years, but she’s had enough. Jerry, she’s decided, has been the “taker” in the relationship, and it’s about time they started living the life that she wants. That means packing up and moving to Las Vegas. Sam and Jerry are about to leave when Jerry’s called in for one last job. Refusing to let Jerry ruin her life, Sam leaves him and heads to Vegas to start her own life while Jerry gets on a plane to Mexico to retrieve an infamous pistol and return it to Margolese.
Things go wrong for Jerry right from the beginning. Legend has it that the pistol is cursed — and Jerry starts to believe the legend when Margolese’s grandson accidentally takes a bullet just after handing the gun to Jerry. Then Jerry’s rental car is stolen — with the gun and Margolese’s dead grandson — in it. Margolese starts to doubt that Jerry will follow through, so he hires a guy named Leroy (James Gandolfini) to kidnap Sam until Jerry brings the gun.
As Jerry jumps hurdle after hurdle to get the pistol — and tries to figure out who he can really trust — Sam and Leroy become the best of friends and start to swap relationship advice while hitting the town in Vegas.
My husband and I saw The Mexican in the theater (shortly before going to Mexico on our honeymoon), and we both loved it — despite its mediocre reviews — and we decided that we definitely had to buy the DVD. Though it does have its slow parts, it’s a great movie. It’s a unique story with unique characters. It’s exciting and cute and funny. And it’s a great couple movie — it’s got a little bit of something for both of us.
Kristin Dreyer Kramer has been writing in some form or another (usually when she was supposed to be doing something else) since the ripe old age of ten—when she, her cousin, and their two Cabbage Patch Dolls formed the Poo Authors’ Club. After a short career in advertising, Kristin got sick of always saying nice things about stuff that didn’t deserve it—so now she spends her days criticizing things, and she’s much happier for it.
Since creating NightsAndWeekends.com in February of 2002, Kristin has spent her life surrounded by piles and piles of books and movies—so many that her office has become a kind of entertainment obstacle course.
As if her writing and editing responsibilities for N&W.com weren’t enough to keep her out of trouble, Kristin also hosts a number of weekly radio shows: Reel Discovery, Shelf Discovery, and On the Marquee. She’s also a proud member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (CriticsChoice.com), the Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA.org), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS.org), and the Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC.Wordpress.com).
Kristin lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, Paul, and their daughter, Anna. She welcomes questions, comments, and fan mail at kdk@nightsandweekends.com.
Kristin Dreyer Kramer has been writing in some form or another (usually when she was supposed to be doing something else) since the ripe old age of ten—when she, her cousin, and their two Cabbage Patch Dolls formed the Poo Authors’ Club. After a short career in advertising, Kristin got sick of always saying nice things about stuff that didn’t deserve it—so now she spends her days criticizing things, and she’s much happier for it.
Since creating NightsAndWeekends.com in February of 2002, Kristin has spent her life surrounded by piles and piles of books and movies—so many that her office has become a kind of entertainment obstacle course.
As if her writing and editing responsibilities for N&W.com weren’t enough to keep her out of trouble, Kristin also hosts a number of weekly radio shows: Reel Discovery, Shelf Discovery, and On the Marquee. She’s also a proud member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (CriticsChoice.com), the Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA.org), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS.org), and the Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC.Wordpress.com).
Kristin lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, Paul, and their daughter, Anna. She welcomes questions, comments, and fan mail at kdk@nightsandweekends.com.
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