Foreign Film Review of The Mexican

With a running time of about 90 minutes for 2 hours, Mexico is moderately enjoyable, though light as a feather, form of entertainment. Then, as a result of a botched scene around the three-quarter mark, the film is a flattening of an adolescent girl's breasts. No, not even a cameo appearance by a respected and well-known actor can save Mexico from a flashy, disappointing conclusion that has the effect of muting a lot of the good stuff that preceded it unfortunately.
Jerry Welbach (Brad Pitt) is one of the dumbest criminals to ever walk the earth. His most common method of surviving illegal derring-do is "Forrest Gumping Him" through them. For Jerry's latest (and perhaps last) job, he is sent to Mexico to retrieve a rare handgun as a powerful crime lord. His girlfriend Samantha (Julia Roberts) is deeply unhappy with his penchant for crime, so she breaks up with him and heads south to Las Vegas when he's heading for the border. At one point, he takes it all in. Not only has he lost his pistol, but his rented car has been stolen and his replacement transport, the D, has run away from him. Meanwhile, in Vegas, a sensitive killer named Leroy (James Gandolfini) kidnaps Samantha as a means to guarantee that Jerry will actually deliver the goods as promised. However, instead of distancing himself from his potential victim, Leroy becomes friendly with Samantha and together they begin to deal with some of his problems.
Mexico comes with a star power overload. This is the first pairing of Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts, and the two are better than together. pitt, who plays a likable fool with Murphy's law affinity for inspired situations, is more interesting when he stumbles over himself in Mexico than when he shares the screen with Roberts. For her, she behaves more like Pete than James Gandolfini (a platonic relationship). The fact is that the two superstars are not connected on any meaningful level. The script wants us to believe that Jerry and Samantha are ill-fated lovers and the actors are unable to convey the depth of passion and attraction that we need.
The most interesting performances are provided by Gandolfini. A few years ago, he was a hard-working character actor with a recognisable face (if not necessarily a well-known name). This was before The Sopranos. Now, Gandolfini gets more respect (not to mention higher fees) and for those who have never seen the HBO series, Mexico represents a lesson. He created the entire body of work for this film. He puts the film's middle section on broad shoulders - at times, Roberts and Pitt seem to be taking a ride together. His homoual killer character, Leroy, isn't all that different from Tony Soprano (except for the sexual orientation), and for fans of "The Sopranos", which would lead to there being D Yuriage? Déjà vu.
The Mexican intrigue has gotten lost, but director Gore Verbinski finds the right balance of speed (moving things along enough to put in a reasonable cut for character development) and tone (light and witty, but not too funny) for the first three-quarters of the film. Unfortunately, the film takes its breath away while still having reel-and-a-half left over. The last 30 minutes of Mexico are not quite as enjoyable as the first 90 minutes. The result resembled an elaborate joke and a bad Punch Line comedy club. In the end, Mexico failed to fundamentally satisfy. The goal was to expect more than what was ultimately delivered.
Perhaps the most telling sign that something is wrong with Mexico can be found in its release date. Films like those starring Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts are usually best timed for summer or Christmas, rather than a farewell date in early March. It doesn't take the viewer long to figure out why, it's not a Pitt and Roberts combination. The characters are so generic that they could play the take on the understated actors Pitt and Roberts bring to these roles for nothing in particular, except their own names. In fact, it's hard to find distribution outside the cable realm without a big list of the same script. Mexico is a mixed bag - comedy usually works, some drama works, but the adventure and romantic elements are dead on arrival. Sure, there have been worse films, but those going into Mexico should temper their expectations by acknowledging that Pitt and Roberts don't offer the kind of dream pairing their reputations might suggest.