Much like the current socio-political climate of Mexico, “Gringo” is enormously messy.
The “dark comedy” film directed by Nash Edgerton and starring the — wasted — talents of David Oyelowo, Sharlto Copley, Amanda Seyfried and Charlize Theron never follows through on its promises of humor or drama and is instead an utter chore to sit through.
The premise is simple. After he learns he’s being stabbed in the back by his best friend and boss, Richard (Joel Edgerton), Harold Soyinka (Oyelowo) fakes his own kidnapping following a shady exchange with a Mexican pharmaceutical company. When Richard calls in his brother, an ex-special-ops soldier (Copley), to help rescue Harold, shenanigans ensue.
There are also no less than five other subplots amongst the chaos that are not worth mentioning except to say that the many Oscar-worthy talents comprising them are squandered. While adding nothing to the overall plot and ending in, say, a Mexican standoff of sorts, these other narratives just sort of happen to no real consequence to their characters or the adjacent overlapping characters around them. They are hardly interconnected, which calls into question the purpose of including them in the final film at all.
What’s worse is for a film labeled as a dark comedy, the humor is totally barren. The same could be said for the film’s overall tone and style; there’s nothing special going on anywhere. And when it does try for humor, “Gringo” frequently reaches for the irony between the Mexican and American characters’ interactions but fails nearly every single time. The film can also get mean-spirited in its “humor,” which got off-putting consistently — there was a weight joke near the end that was purely offensive.
Only Theron manages to save crumbs of the film here and there with her performance as one of Harold’s bosses, Elaine. Theron owns the role of a cocky business executive, and it’s only her delivery that sells an otherwise forgettable character. Unfortunately she’s playing second fiddle to Edgerton’s very annoying Richard for most of her time on screen, so you only get her in scattered appearances every so often.
Oyelowo is also noticeably trying his hardest to garner sympathy for his character, Harold with some moderate success as a result. He gives a very physical performance which can be charming at times and he even managed to make me chuckle on occasion. Still his character ultimately comes off as pathetic but I blame the shoddy screenplay more so than Oyelowo himself.
Two hours is too long to sit through “Gringo.” With no characters or circumstances to really invest in the film is a tragic waste of its tremendous cast and a solid narrative premise. It’s a big two thumbs down for mea.
Grade: D-
Hector Valverde is a freelance reporter at the Daily Lobo. He primarily writes movie reviews. He can be contacted at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @hpvalverde.
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