With Mel Gibson doing himself no favors in the public media over the last six years, GET THE GRINGO is a much-needed reminder of why we loved him so much for the twenty years prior to his scandalous headlines. While it was greatly refreshing to see Gibson on screen again in EDGE OF DARKNESS and THE BEAVER after an overbearing eight year absence, GET THE GRINGO does the best of capturing everything we truly loved about Gibson's performances: charm, wit, humor, edge. The script by Gibson, director Adrian Grunberg and producer Stacey Persky is an original and tight balance of humor, edge, and danger that can very easily be considered an unofficial sequel to the theatrical cut of Gibson's cult favorite, PAYBACK. While the character of GRINGO's Driver never reveals his actual name, he possesses a lot of the same qualities as PAYBACK's Porter, including a U.S. military tattoo, a chain-smoking habit, sticky fingers, an iron jaw, and a penchant for bloodshed. Grunberg's direction is also solid with an obvious love for Sam Peckinpah paraded throughout.
For those of us who endured so many years of understandable negativity towards Gibson for his personal troubles, GET THE GRINGO is the film we've long awaited. It's truly a shame this film won't be seen wide in the U.S. It would've been a better comeback vehicle than EDGE OF DARKNESS was meant to be. GET THE GRINGO practically screams, "Remember me? I'm still here, and I still got it!"
But if one thing is certain in the age of home entertainment, it is that every good film gets discovered by an audience. Sooner or later...
