Gringo

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So, this is a bit of a weird review on my part. I can't honestly say that I hated, or even truly disliked this movie. But at the same time, there just wasn't enough here to keep me engaged throughout. There were moments of yawns, and checking my watch as I sat through this, and if any laughs were had at all, they could be seen in the trailer. For the rest of this, there's not a whole hell of a lot of comedy. Just a handfull of characters that you either end up hating or being level with, but not necessarily loving.

The basic plot is set around an average, law-abiding citizen named Harold (David Oyelowo). When he learns of his coworkers' (Joel Edgarton, Charlize Theron) backstabbing ways, he decides to stage a kidnapping in order to reap the reward of ransom money. However, as wires get crossed, Harold finds himself caught in the middle of a far more serious situation involving drug lords, and a morally confused black ops mercenary (Sharlto Copley) who is probably the best part of the film..

Speaking for myself, I found the movie to be a bit jumbled and hard to follow, and it definitely looked a lot funnier than it ended up being in the end. On top of that, this is just the average plot of the average guy getting mixed up in a crazy situation and finds himself over his head. It's nothing new or different this time around, really. It's moderately predictable the whole way through. You get who's gonna come out on top, you get who's gonna get their comeuppance, etc.

That's not to say the movie is really terrible, but it's just kinda there. It's a bit slow moving, considering it's subject matter, and nothing about it sticks out enough to make me wanna check it out a second time around. It's a shame, they had a solid cast, and everyone does pretty good here with what they have to work with, but it just lacks of interest. One might consider this somewhat of a stoner film by looking at the trailer, but the truth of the matter is, it's closer to a drug cartel crime film mixed with a fish out of water story. Some may enjoy it more that I did, but I think the trailer mislead me to believe it was something much more different than what I got.

By the end of 2018, this title probably won't end up making any kind of "worst-of" list, but it certainly isn't gonna make it's way onto a "best-of" either. It's kinda bad, but I can believe other people might get more out of it than I did, personally. Check it out for yourself and see, but I'd recommend skipping the theater for it.

2/5

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