Overlooked Movies: Get the Gringo

If you watched the trailer, I don't suppose there's any real need for you to see the movie.  It's pretty much all right there.  Still, if you're curious about whether Mel Gibson can still make a highly entertaining thriller that will remind you of why you liked him in the first place (if you did), then this is the one to see.  I'm not sure it even had a theatrical release.  I'd heard good things about it, though, so I took a look.  I'm glad I did.

Gibson plays one of those good bad guys, who's just a little off center.  Maybe a lot off center.  He's stolen a lot of money, but the getaway goes wrong and he winds up in a Mexican prison.  The arresting cops steal his loot.  Now, this movie requires plenty of suspension of disbelief, and you might think that begins with the prison.  Nope.  The prison is based on an actual Tijuana prison, El Pueblito.  The prison is an incredible place, now closed.   The climax of the movie is based on the last day of that prison, which was like a small city.  The inmates lived there with their families and had constructed homes and businesses.  Bribery and corruption were everywhere.  It's all in the movie.

Gibson wants his money back, but that's the least of his worries.  People in the prison are trying to kill him, the warden needs a liver transplant, and (you can start suspending your disbelief now) there's a kid living in the prison who's a match.  Gibson and the kid bond, and Mel, being a good bad guy is going to help him.

There's more, much more, and maybe not all of it's in the trailer.  I got a huge kick out of this movie.  Maybe people just can't put aside their feelings about Gibson as a person and go see Gibson the actor.  Too bad, because if he'd made this in the '80s, it would've been huge.