The Mexican (2001)

Generally speaking, for me great characters are what make a character work. The circumstances surrounding them aren't terribly important as long as the characters can grab my attention and hold it. This is exactly what The Mexican does fairly well, thus making it an entertaining couple hours.

Brad Pitt plays a bumbling yet reluctant criminal named Jerry. His girlfriend Samantha (Julia Roberts) is fed up with his so-called criminal career and is leaving for Las Vegas, with or without him. Unfortunately, Jerry has been ordered to perform one last task. He has to head south of the border to pick up a rare and highly valuable pistol nicknamed the Mexican.

True to form he bungles the pick up, resulting in the death of a member of his boss' family and the loss of his rental El Camino, with the famous pistol riding shotgun. When he reports his problems a hit man is sent to kidnap Samantha en route to Vegas to "regulate funkiness." The odd thing is that the hit man Leroy (James Gandolfini) and Samantha hit it off and are soon chatting away like best pals.

The major characters are all interesting because to some degree they play against type. Roberts is not her usual sweet natured charmer. Instead she is a woman with an explosive temper, most frequently directed at Jerry. Pitt plays a loser who "managed to Forest Gump" his way through his problems. He's not too bright and entirely too trusting for someone in his line of work. Gandolfini as a hit man would seem to be playing very much to type, except that his character is also a homosexual.

Roberts actually seems to be getting stronger as a performer as time goes by. While her performance here doesn't match her work in Erin Brockovich, she also doesn't have nearly the same quality of material to work with. She still manages to craft an interesting character and display an astonishing array of expressions. Her well known visage seems to have taken a page from Jim Carrey's bag of tricks with a seemingly limitless range of movement. Combine that with mega-wattage charm and you've got an endlessly fascinating performer.

Despite such praise she is frequently over shadowed by the performance of Gandolfini. He is a highly professional killer who somehow manages to be awfully sensitive and caring at the same time. The two have long discussions on relationships that, due to the circumstances, borders on the surreal.

The story is loaded to the gills with intrigue and twists, plus a fascinating and constantly evolving history to it's titular object. Perhaps the biggest weakness of the movie is the story which seems to try a bit too hard to please. It's kind of like a little kid jumping around and standing on its head to get the attention of a parent. To a degree the plot twists are welcome as they keep you guessing and off balance. Eventually though they reach a point where you would just like the story to stop jumping around and resolve itself already.

The movie is much better off when simply allowing its characters to try and sort out their problems. It's also at its best in the small moments. Little details like the use of stoplights and a dog that steals every scene it's in are what really give the film its character and charm.

Be warned that the movie's trailers and ads are somewhat misleading. Pitt and Roberts spend most of the movie apart from one another, making it a bit hard to describe as a romantic comedy. When together they aren't the fawning over one another in that new couple cute mode that most romantic comedies force on us to vomitous effect. Instead they are the long standing couple that bicker incessantly. Their arguments reach fever pitch that can only be generated by couples with a long history. Cute they ain't.

The Mexican wants to be a quirky road trip screwball romance comedy but tries just a bit too hard for that quirkiness. Played a little straighter and with more emphasis on the characters, this could have been a blast. Instead we get a lightweight but still fairly enjoyable bit of distraction.

- John Shea

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