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Avg. Rating: 2.95
Boy, Girl, Hit man and the Mob Two hours and fifteen minutes of racy (for the first half) comedy/drama. Towards the end the movies starts to drag a bit. Trying my best not to overstep the boundaries of giving away some of the best surprises, let me tell you just this that you wont really regret sitting through despite of it being so lengthy. This movie has its funny moments between the characters of Julia Roberts playing Sam and Brad Pitt playing Jerry Welbach, a couple although madly in love but still having trouble. Punch Line of their relationship is when Sam asks Jerry, "When two people love each other and cant seem to get along when is it time to say enough?" Jerry's answer is the defining moment of their relationship. Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts do not share the frame much in this movie as they are separated earlier in the film when Jerry is sent for a job to Mexico and many ill-fated events follow. Meanwhile Sam takes of to Las Vegas to pursue her dream and midway is kidnapped by a hit man sent by Jerry's boss due to his inability to deliver, played by James Gandolfini. On this frame develops a very interesting relationship between the hostage and her captor. It's a wonderful movie with romance, comedy, drama, thrill all packed up in one. Just OK I didn't really know what to expect, only that I had heard mixed things when it was out in the theaters. And after watching it I'd have to say I had mixed feelings about it. First off, I have to compliment the screenplay, for no other reason than it was penned by a third cousin Joel Weiner who is credited as 'J.H. Wyman'. I really did like the concept of parallel storytelling with the recounting of an old Mexican legend and the modern story, but it ultimately wasn't enough to hold it all together. Brad Pitt just doesn't do well with the main character who, like Griffin Dunne in After Hours, has a little black cloud over everything he does. This makes me wonder why the heck After Hours isn't on DVD?!?! Julia Roberts was ... OK ... but the role wasn't anything we haven't seen before. James Gandolfini was the real stand out in a wonderfully complex role. He plays it so well that you wish he could have been in more of the movie. Gene Hackman also pops up at the end for what must have been one day of shooting. Can't wait to see him in the upcoming David Mamet film Heist. [Geoffrey Kleinman DVDTalk.com] The Mexican a very flawed film with Pitt and Roberts Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts star in this dark comedy/low budget action movie. ''The Mexican'' is about a guy named Jerry (Pitt) who works for a crime boss. One day the crime boss, asks Jerry for one last ''job'' before Jerry decides to quit working for him and pay of his debts. The ''job'' though isn't as easy as Jerry thinks it is. He is asked to find a rare gun that is worth alot of money in Mexico.Jerry's girlfriend , a nieve and spoiled brat named Samantha (Roberts fits the role perfectly ) reacts to Jerry last job like a bat out of hell. She immediately tells Jerry that if he goes to this job that she will never take him back, and to not both coming to her. The character of Samantha is as shallow and mean as a woman can get, I almost get shivers down my spine when I think that women like Samantha exist, because they aren't worth fighting for. What Samantha doesn't realize is that Jerry is doing this job for her out of love. Jerry wants to pay his debts , and to pay of this debts requires doing this job in Mexico. Pitt while not being the charasmatic actor, does at least add some depth and character to Jerry. Anyhow once Jerry arrives in Mexico (a pretty dangerous place in some areas, but enjoyable in others) meets his contact who is going to give the rare gun to him. However, things go horribly wrong when the contact Jerry is with literally dies in front of him during a midnight celebration in Mexico. Jerry at first does not know the guy is dead, until he notices the bloody headshot on the car seat where he places the body in!!! Uggh. This is only the start of a bad situation for Jerry. Once Jerry's crime boss finds out that he has fowled things up (although it's not his fault this guy is dead) sends in a psychopath killer named Leroy (James Gandolfini ) to hold his girlfriend Sam as hostage, while Jerry tries to come back to his boss with the antique gun. One of the big problems the Mexican is the load of unlikeable characters in the film. Brad Pitt's character of Jerry is probably the only somewhat likeable character in the film. Julia Roberts (again in her usual uncharasmatic self) as Sam, doesn't really show any love or compassion only up to the point where she herself becomes involved in Jerry's situation. She only really cares about herself. Then there's Gandolifini's character who can be best characterized as self hypocriting homosexual, hitman. which in fact he is if you watch the whole film. Gandolfini is best known for playing the paranoid , lovable, and evil Tony Soprano in the Sopranos but his role in that overrated, and his role in this film is forgettable. The Mexican is not a total waste of a film, although much of it is. I loved the twists in the film that the Mexican's in the film, from the villages to the cops were smarter than the dumb gringo (Jerry) who comes to look for the ancient gun for his boss. In fact, the Mexican's gave me such a good laugh, that I thought they were probably the best actors in the film. Every stereotype that Jerry and his white crime buddies put on them is eventually thrown back in their face with big laughs. That's all I can say, I won't spoil it though by going into the exact dialogue. The film also has a couple of good twists in the middle, and near the end. However, the Mexican though has so many problems with it, that keep it from leaving a lasting impression and making it a likeable film that I can't recommend buying. Renting it though is a different matter, you'll probably get some good laughs from it like I did, but that's it. As Roger Ebert would say ''Two Thumbs Down'' but give it a viewing however don't expect to be blown away by this low budget film because you wont.
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