A Night in Old Mexico

Spanish/US co-production well played , magnificently set in Mexico , stunningly directed and it pays tribute to the great American actor Robert Duvall . About to lose the property that's been in his family for generations, Texas rancher Red Bovie (Robert Duvall) is contemplating suicide , as forced to sell his family ranch to developers, a financially strapped but proud senior citizen, finally meets his grandson (Jeremy Irvine) and gets involved with drug dealers (Luis Tosar) .

This is an exciting as well as thought-provoking story about sympathetic human beings and how they cope with an relentless chase who carry out some drug dealers . It is an extreme situation and this is conveyed pretty well by Emilio Aragon ; as a trio of unfortunate characters -perfectly played by Robert Duval , Jeremy Irvine and Angie Cepeda- are mercilessly pursued and they have to flee with a loot that have found . The flick is dedicated in loving memory of Christopher Bates , executive producer of the film and dead at 2013 . The main discernible reason to watch Spanish director Emilio Aragon's English language debut , A Night in Old Mexico, results to be to see star Robert Duvall in front of a nice cast and center dancing circles around the cringe worthy supporting players . To be fair , his interpretation is fabulous , he is the first character , granting a special kind of depth . Intelligent and interesting script written by screenwriter William D. Wittliff, reteaming with Duvall for the first time since the memorable 1989 television miniseries, "Lonesome Dove" . It's a project that's reputed to be nearly 35 years in the making , but the end product can't quite justify the means with this reunion that feels akin to Duvall's last stint as director , 2002's ¨Assassination Tango¨ . And Duvall has recently directed ¨Wild Horses¨, he stars as an old rancher who once kicked his son off his property for being gay and now finds himself at the center of a missing person investigation ; in addition to starring , Robert directed a cast that includes James Franco and Josh Hartnett.

Thrilling as well as evocative musical score by the same filmmaker , Emilio Aragon , including Mexican sounds . Colorful and evocative cinematography by David Omedes . The motion picture was compellingly directed by Emilio Aragon , an effort that feels far superior in comparison his first film : ¨Paper birds¨ . The production and directing of his Opera Prima "Pájaros De Papel" (paper birds), a lifelong dream, seems he has been dedicating his whole life to , being nominated for Best First Director Award at 2011 Goyas (Spanish Oscars) .

A Night in Old Mexico is a sweet little tale about a down-and-out and bitter old-timer who goes on a trip to Mexico and finds new purpose in life after getting his hands on a young exotic dancer and some dirty drug money. If that sounds a little naïve and trite, it's because it is. But Robert Duvall has always had a strange ability to add validity to almost anything, no matter how mediocre the circumstances, and so he does here as well. The supposed weighty material in the movie, such as the relationship between Duvall and his grandson (played by Jeremy Irvine), or such as the existential themes in the script, always stay just a little short of poignant, but at least the filmmakers want to make them felt, even if they're not quite able to convey it. And when the drama isn't quite working, there's just enough humour in here to cover it up.

I doubt I've ever seen a Robert Duvall movie that was not worth watching and the same can be said of this one. Duvall plays a cranky old coot not ready to take up the rocking chair and I hope he isn't ready for a long time. A decent premise to the movie and several places that make you smile. If you like crotchety hard-headed old folks this is the movie for you. While in all respects a slow movie I didn't regret a minute. I wish IMDb didn't require ten lines for a review because I doubt I've had ten lines to say about any movie.But it's nice to be able to give one a good review, one that isn't cr*p found footage and one where the acting enabled the suspension of disbelief for a couple hours.

In true Hollywood form, viewers are supposed to not know that Joshua trees and mountains do not exist in south Texas but that those driving scenes were shot in the high desert of California. The film jumped from Texas to California and back in the same scene.

When Duvall tries to shoot himself the hammer is seen on half-cock where the cylinder can be spun (he actually spins it but does not full-cock it) but not shot from. But a split-second later he sends a bullet through the barn door.

The Mexico signs upon entering Mexico are hilarious. The first one says ESTADO DE Mexico (Mexico is in all caps on the sign too)(the state next to Mexico City) and the following one says MORELOS, which is also in central Mexico. Neither is on the border.

Lotsa laughs but gimme a break with insulting our knowledge of geography.

Robert Duvall is my favorite actor of all time but not even he could save this miserable script, poor directing and amateur cinematography. Other than Duvall, the other actors are worse than you would see in any high school play. The script is probably the worst I have ever seen produced. There are at least 30 scenes that were imitations from other, real films. Of course, they were very poorly executed. There were plot holes at every turn and others that just didn't make sense. I didn't bother to research but I cannot fathom how this train wreck got produced. I felt sorry for Duvall throughout the whole film. His performance was definitely not Oscar worthy and my mind drifted off, wondering if he has financial problems that would have led him to participate in this amateur endeavor. I have honestly seen much better productions from film schools.