Stereotypes spoil fairy tale of “˜The Mexican’

By David Holmberg
Daily Bruin Contributor

Everything you ever wanted to know about “The
Mexican” can be learned from its title. It is simple, but
with a twist of the exotic. It sounds racist, but given all of the
political correctness these days, it’s hard to tell. And,
above all, both the title and the film seem a little confused.

To say that somewhere in “The Mexican” lies a good
movie would be grossly inaccurate. The film’s problems could
not have been fixed by rewriting J.H. Wyman’s weak script,
changing stars Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts, or removing director
Gore Verbinski.

With that in mind, “The Mexican” is the best movie
it could be, and watching the film turns out to be a moderately
entertaining adventure.

The film always seems to be in a hurry, and it wastes no time
laying down its plot. Jerry, played by the ever-entertaining Pitt,
is an inept and unwilling thief who owes a crime boss because of
his own stupidity. As his last job, he must travel to Mexico to
retrieve an ancient pistol for which the movie is named. If he
fails or refuses, he dies. Although this is simple enough,
Jerry’s demanding girlfriend Samantha, (played with little
imagination by Roberts) gives him an ultimatum: either move with
her to Las Vegas immediately or the relationship is over.

Weighing death against life without Samantha, he chooses the
latter, and heads to Mexico.

Once south of the border, Jerry drives around in his El Camino
in search of the pistol, which he soon learns is cursed.

Meanwhile, back in the states, Samantha is kidnapped by a
soft-hearted hit man named Leroy (James Gandolfini) as an incentive
to ensure Jerry safely returns the pistol. Leroy becomes a personal
counselor to Samantha as he tries to help her resolve her
relationship woes. Jerry and Samantha, an ever-troubled couple,
endure various mishaps and complications in both countries, as they
are inevitably drawn toward each other in the end.

Crucial to the arc of the film is the legend of the pistol.
According to various stories throughout the movie, the pistol has
separated lovers and destroyed the lives of others ever since its
creation.

Parallels are drawn between this ancient tale and the
contemporary plot, and the Mexican becomes symbolic of impossible
love in any time.

Unfortunately, “The Mexican” does not hold up as a
modern fairy tale. This is due in part to a complicated plot which
can’t sustain an average folk tale. But the foremost cause of
the film’s failure is the gratuitous violence.

Slow motion suicides, bullet-riddled bodies and gaping neck
wounds draw the audience out of this storybook world and back into
brutal reality.

While the idea of a realistically violent fairy tale is
intriguing, the rest of the film does not support this notion. The
stereotypes in the film make a hard break from reality while the
bloody killings keep beating the audience back.

It is hard not to wonder whether screenwriter Wyman ever left
his office, given the startling number of stereotypes in the film.
The Mexicans ““ the people not the pistol ““ are
astoundingly one dimensional, and it is an unflattering dimension
to boot.

Peeing on the streets, stealing everything they can get their
hands on and hopelessly bound to superstition, it is almost as bad
as the African-American stereotypes found in early minstrel shows
and vaudeville.

As for the characters, Jerry is the typical physically oriented
male who does not understand his feelings; he is the
stereotypically simple young man. Pitt does what he can with the
character, but ultimately he resorts to a lot of hand gestures and
waving about in order to communicate ““ which surprisingly
turns out to be fairly effective.

While it would seem that Pitt’s history of playing
unconventional heroes would become conventional unto itself, it is
hard not to long for the days of “Fight Club’s”
Tyler Durden or “Snatch’s” One Punch Mickey
O’Neil.

His better, or perhaps worse half, Samantha, is portrayed in the
way many men see women: hypersensitive, overbearing and wracked by
uncontrollable emotions. It is unfortunate that Roberts proved her
acting abilities in her last movie, “Erin Brockovich,”
otherwise not much would have been expected of her.

Much has been said about the short amount of time these two
stars spend on screen together. This proves to not be terribly
important, because their crosscutting stories weave well enough to
provide a sense of connection.

Additionally, their gendered and ideological differences,
represented by their placement in two distinct countries, demands
their separation until they can cope with being together again.

Leroy the hit man helps revive their relationship. A sensitive
counselor, Gandolfini’s ruthless killer almost appears to
break the streak of stereotypes. However, his personal secret,
which at first seems inspired, soon falls right into the most tired
of caricatures.

Yet, despite all of these flaws and confused themes, “The
Mexican” is not altogether a disappointment.

The upbeat pace and lively, but stereotypical, music of Mexico
sweeps rapidly along and drags the audience most of the way. The
stereotypes do cause frequent laughs, although this likely says
more about the audience than the film.

Marked by an inane plot and characters, “The
Mexican” still winds up entertaining. It does make a valiant
effort, but never expect too much from a movie whose title says it
all.