Anyone walking into "The Mexican" expecting a romantic comedy will be sorely disappointed. Well actually, that depends on who you are. If you're the kinda person who enjoys movies like "Save the Last Dance" and "The Wedding Planner," and wanted to see "The Mexican" thinking that it was another cheesy romantic comedy, then yes, you'll be disappointed. But if you're a guy who was dragged into seeing "The Mexican" by a girl who's into cheesy romantic comedies, then you'll be pleasantly surprised.
I wasn't really very interested in seeing this movie after seeing the trailers. It looked pretty dumb, and I thought it was gonna be one of those cheesy chick flicks I so often try to avoid. But then the reviews came out, and they were surprisingly good. Once it was confirmed that "The Mexican" wasn't just another romantic comedy, I decided that I wanted to see it. Besides, I like Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts.
I've always liked Brad Pitt, mostly because he's a great actor who's always willing to take on unusual roles. Most recently, he played a bare-knuckle fighter with an incomprehensibly thick accent in "Snatch," but he's got a long history of playing offbeat characters. The weirdo in "12 Monkeys," the hilarious stoner in "True Romance" (probably my favorite of his performances), the redneck serial killer in "Kalifornia," and who can ever forget "Tyler Durden" in "Fight Club"? Yes, of course, he's played a few Hollywood movie star roles, but he's not one to shy away from looking like shit for a movie (I don't care how much a woman may love Brad Pitt, if she sees him in "Kalifornia," she'll be disgusted by his appearance). As for Julia Roberts, she often stars in the romantic comedies I try to avoid, but there have been a few that I've loved. "Pretty Woman," "My Best Friend's Wedding," "Notting Hill"... of course, the reason why I love those romantic comedies is because there's something different about them, something that separates them from the rest of the crap out there. Also, she starred in "Erin Brockovich," a movie I loved, and I hope to see her win the Best Actress award for it on Oscar night.
Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts have very good chemistry together, but it's hard to tell because they don't spend a lotta time onscreen together. Brad Pitt's character goes here and there, gets into trouble, screws everything up, while Julia Roberts' character spends most of her time with a hitman played by James Gandolfini (one of his first film roles was the hitman who beat the crap outta Patricia Arquette in the excellent movie, "True Romance," and he even had a scene with Brad Pitt's stoner character in that flick... now he's best known as "Tony Soprano" in the popular HBO TV show, "The Sopranos"). Gandolfini is excellent in the movie, and the chemistry he has with Julia Roberts is great.
By the way, there's a pretty big cameo to keep your eyes opened for towards the end.
There's a huge secret in the movie, and hopefully, you'll walk in not knowing it. Unfortunately, I read a review that gave away the secret, and I wish I didn't. It's the kind that works much better as a surprise. I HATE when critics have spoilers in their reviews!!
"The Mexican" was directed by Gore Verbinski, the director of "Mouse Hunt" (he also directed the first of the Budweiser frogs commercials"). I never saw "Mouse Hunt," but I heard good things about it, especially the visual style. I like what he did in "The Mexican" a lot. As for the script, it was written by J.H. Wyman, a guy (or girl?) I never heard of. He/she has written a few things a couple of years ago, but I never heard of 'em. "The Mexican" is a good script, though. It's a tad confusing at times, but it all seems to come together at the end.
Though
it drags at times, "The Mexican" is a solid movie.
A lot of credit goes to Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts, but it's James Gandolfini
who steals the show. Oh, and the dog is pretty damn funny, too.
Scale of 1-10: 8