GRINGO : Tuesday 5th June 2018.

'GRINGO' which I saw this week at my local multiplex sat in a near empty theatre is brought to us by Aussie Stuntman, Actor and only second time Director of a full length feature film, Nash Edgerton who brings us this American comedy crime caper, which he also Co-Produced. Nash Edgerton is the older brother of Actor, Director, Writer and Producer Joel Edgerton. Nash's previous feature length Directing credit was the 2008 Australian thriller 'The Square', and he has worked as Stunt Coordinator or Stuntman in numerous Hollywood movies over the years and occasionally acts too. For this film Nash has assembled an all star cast that takes in David Oyelowo, Charlize Theron, Amanda Seyfried, Thandie Newton, Sharlto Copley, Harry Treadaway, Paris Jackson and brother Joel amongst others. The film was released in the US in early March, has received mixed or average Reviews, and has so far taken US$10M at the Box Office.

Here, hapless mild-mannered and unassuming Nigerian born U.S. businessman Harold Soyinka (David Oyelowo) works for a Chicago based medical technology firm that has developed the 'weed pill' (a medical marijuana that has been simplified into a pill format). Harold's bosses, CEO Richard Rusk (Joel Edgerton) and Co-owner Elaine Markinson (Charlize Theron) are interrupted having office sex by a telephone call from a frantic Harold claiming that he has been kidnapped in Mexico and that his captors are demanding a ransom of US$5M. This news takes Richard and Elaine off guard who are understandably unprepared for such an eventuality, and cut the phone call short to buy them some thinking time.

We then rewind two days and find Harold going about his business for the company he works for, Promethium, seemingly happily married to his wife Bonnie (Thandie Newton). In a coffee shop meeting over a latte, Harold meets with his Accountant, who shows him that he is verging on bankruptcy largely because of Bonnie's reckless spending habits and her huge business overheads for servicing one single Client. The Accountant also alerts Harold to the fact that he shouldn't trust his employer and that the word on the street is that the company is going to merge with another.

Harold sees that all of a sudden his livelihood is at risk, despite his long lasting and close friendship with Rusk. Arriving back at the office Richard announces unexpectedly that he, Elaine and Harold are to fly down to Mexico the next day to attend an important business meeting with the manufacturer of the weed pill, and to cease supply to a Mexican drug lord which up to now has proved very lucrative for all parties, but it must now stop for fear of jeopardising the planed merger - a fact that Harold is unaware of officially, and when quizzed, Richard is very coy about.

Meanwhile, in a city guitar shop run by Sunny (Amanda Seyfried) and her boyfriend Miles (Harry Treadaway), Nelly (Paris Jackson, daughter of Michael, in her screen debut) enters the shop to tell Miles that someone down Mexico way wants him to smuggle a small consignment of drugs into the U.S. He refuses the initial offer of US$10K for the project and then reluctantly agrees when the ante is upped to US$20K, and decides to take Sunny with him.

Harold, Richard, and Elaine arrive in Mexico where they are met at the airport by Angel (Yul Vasquez), a friend of Harold's from his previous visits. They meet with their company rep named Celerino Sanchez (Hernan Mendoza). Richard and Elaine enter his office while Harold is ordered that his presence at the meeting is not required. Richard delivers the news to cut off, forthwith, any and all supply to the Cartel, and that he isn't afraid of the idle threats of some little wannabe drug lord. The meeting is over very quickly, although Sanchez is noticeably shaken by the prospect of having to deliver this news to the head of the Cartel.

Later that night, after a stilted and hastily abandoned dinner, Harold is on a Skype call with Bonnie, where she announces that she doesn't want to be married to him anymore, and that she has met someone else, but wouldn't disclose who. She hangs up the call, leaving Harold distraught. Elsewhere in the city, Sunny and Miles have arrived. Miles maintains contact with his Mexican connection, while Sunny is oblivious to his intentions. Sanchez drives out later that night to the estate of Cartel leader Villegas, aka 'The Black Panther' (Carlos Corona). Sanchez advises Villegas about the latest development by Promethium. The drug lord is led to believe that Harold is the boss of the company, and therefore the only person equipped to open the vault at their manufacturing facility. He orders his henchmen to go locate Harold after having them cut off Sanchez's toe with bolt cutters to show that nobody messes with The Black Panther.

With Richard and Elaine having departed for Chicago early the next morning, Harold is left in Mexico to attend to business, with the Cartel now hunting him down. Harold fakes his disappearance from the hotel leaving his clothes, mobile phone, laptop, suitcase and still made up bed in the room, as though he left in a hurry. He checks into a downbeat motel in the arse end of town run by a couple of young Mexican likely lad brothers whom he later convinces to create background threatening sound effects while he calls Richard with the news of his kidnapping. After their meeting down in Mexico the previous day, Richard and Elaine are now fearful that the Cartel are catching up with them, and believe Harold's story. Richard has a plan, and calls his brother Mitch (Sharlto Copley) who is experienced at taking people out and high level extractions having served as a mercenary, but now reformed and doing humanitarian work in Haiti. Mitch agrees to the safe extraction of Harold for US$200K.

Harold spends the night feeling sorry for himself in some local cantina getting steadily drunk. The bartender who has a connection to the Cartel, alerts them and soon afterwards two of Villegas's henchmen descend upon Harold and take him for a ride home. Being able to speak Spanish, Harold recognises the banter going on between his two new 'friends' and quickly comes to his senses, when he spies one of them with a pistol resting on his lap, poised to use it in the event of any trouble. Harold in a state of panic, struggles with the armed man for the gun causing a single shot to fire out killing the driver with a bullet to the head. The car veers out of control, crashes down an embankment and comes to rest in a crumpled heap. The next morning, Harold is limping dazed and confused down a country road, when who should happen by but Sunny and Miles driving their small little compact car. Sunny urges Miles to stop, and he reluctantly does so, just as Harold passes out on the roadside. Coincidentally, all three are staying in the same motel, which is how Sunny recognised Harold.

Back at the motel, Sunny nurses Harold back to consciousness and tends to a head wound. Sunny from this point on calls Harold, Harry, because there are more famous Harry's in the world than Harold's. At this point the two likely lads in charge of the motel, attempt to kidnap Harold to claim a reward for his delivery to Villegas. Wearing full face masks and at gunpoint, they storm Harold's room. Within no time, Mitch is on the scene taking out the two would be kidnapper brothers and Miles in the process. Mitch manhandles Harold outta there and reassures him that by this time tomorrow he'll be safely back in Chicago.

At the airport Harold does a runner just before checking in believing that he is being kidnapped again, and Mitch gives chase. Mitch catches up with him and takes him back to his room where he injects him with a nano tracking device to know where he is at all times. Mitch makes a deal with Harold to try and get Richard to pay a larger sum of money for Harold's return - a share of the US$2M kidnap insurance payout. When Mitch calls Richard to make that deal, Richard tells him that the company is planning to collect a life insurance claim on Harold if he were to end up dead which is valued at US$5M. Unbeknownst to Harold, Mitch agrees to take him up on that offer for a US$2M share. To celebrate their freedom and their insurance windfall, Harold and Mitch go out on the streets where they are seen by the two brothers from the motel. In a moment of clarity, Mitch admits Richard's plan with the insurance payout. Mitch is then struck by a car driven by the brothers and winds up face down in the river. Harold is then taken to see Villegas.

The brothers rock up to the Villegas estate with a bound Harold in tow. Villegas promptly shoots dead each of the brothers, and reassures that no harm will come to Harold, as they merely want access to the drug company's vault to take a stash of surplus weed pills for themselves. Meanwhile Miles, is making his way toward the same location for his own stash of what he came for. Upon arrival the Cartel henchmen get involved in a huge firefight with the Police and Security guards with casualties inflicted on all sides. Harold recognises Angel, who reveals himself to be an undercover DEA Agent who has infiltrated both the Cartel and Promethium and has nothing good to report about either organisation.

Making their getaway outta Dodge City, Harold and Angel are run off the road by Villegas henchmen with their car ending up on its roof by the side of the road on the outskirts of town. Harold and Angel crawl out of the upturned car just as the henchmen turn back towards them. Another firefight ensues in which Harold takes out one and Mitch (who has recovered from his near death experience) having tracked Harold, takes out another, only to be shot in the head by the first henchmen who was not quite dead yet, until Harold finishes him off. Harold gives Angel a stickdrive with the information he secretly uploaded from Richard's computer a few days earlier containing the data needed to take Richard down. Harold admits he can't return home since he no longer has a job or a wife to return to, now knowing that Richard was carrying on with Bonnie in a relationship that has subsequently gone south. Angel replies that people simply vanish in Mexico all the time, and that he will turn a blind eye to allow Harold to fake his own death. Harold briefly mourns over Mitch's lifeless body before taking the taxi he commandeered, which contained several rolls of US$100 bills and forged passports, one of which was ready for 'Harry' to skip Mexico under a new identity.

In the washup, Villegas and his Cartel, along with Miles, are all arrested by Angel and the local authorities. Harold is declared dead back home, and a funeral is held for him, which a now remorseful Bonnie attends. Richard is arrested and sentenced to fifteen years jail time, and Elaine takes over the company pleading ignorance to Richard's nefarious ways. Somewhere on the Mexican coast at a deserted beach Harry has opened up a bar. He maintains contact with Sunny and sends her a message on her birthday. He looks directly at the camera with a wry smile on his dial.

Despite its impressive cast which promises so much, the film under delivers and offers nothing new that we have not seen in other similar genre movies. The characters are largely lifeless, except for Charlize Theron's Elaine who has the pick of the rapid fire one liners and delivers some great dialogue that is too risqué to reproduce here, but great fun nonetheless and to see her so brazenly flaunt her sexuality as the take no prisoners, potty mouthed, full of herself, opinionated and super confident corporate exec. is the highlight of an otherwise predictable by the numbers film. There is a lot going on in this film as story threads get compounded and short changed, never being full fleshed out until everyone gets their payday in the last five minutes. In summary, the black comedy really failed to materialise for me, it's violent in places but not overly so, and its a crime caper of sorts only - all of which failed to manifest in any real meaningful way. You don't have to see this on the big screen and can easily wait for the BluRay, DVD, digital download or streaming service to catch it from the comfort of your own home.

'Gringo' merits two claps of the clapperboard, from a possible five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-