"Where Movie Critics Get A Taste Of Their Own Medicine!"
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Why are critics angry with "The Mexican?"
by Herb Kane
March 7, 2001
out of 4 stars (R)
CRITIC DOCTOR EXAMINES: Lou Lumenick (New York Post), Dave White (ifilm.com), Roger Ebert & Richard Roeper ("Ebert & Roeper and
the Movies," Chicago Sun-Times), Julie Hinds (freep.com), Lisa Schwarzbaum (Entertainment Weekly), Susan Stark (Detroit News), Bob Graham (San Francisco Chronicle), Chris Gore (filmthreat.com), Desson Howe (Washington Post), Jeff Vice (deseretnews.com)
My wife and I ate a local Mexican restaurant with our friends,
Betsy and Lane, before attending “The Mexican.” I thought
the spicy food might get to me by night's end, but it was the
negative film reviews that gave me gas.
"The Mexican" is actually an old pistol loaded with
timeless legends. Jerry (Brad Pitt) is ordered by his mob boss
to go to Mexico and retrieve the priceless gun, and his girlfriend
Samantha (Julia Roberts) is upset he is doing a job for the mob.
Sam blows up and leaves for Vegas. Then a sensitive, gay contract
killer, Leroy (James Gandolfini), kidnaps Sam - and here the story
really takes off. Critics, however, complain that Pitt and Roberts
are rarely together in the film.
Lou Lumenick (New York Post) said, "They do not, in
fact, have a bona-fide scene together until 85 minutes into this
movie, a head-scratching choice for an alleged romantic comedy
that stumbles on just past the two-hour mark." Dave White
(ifilm.com) asks, "Why would anyone put two huge movie
stars in a film and then keep them apart for over 70 percent of
the film?"
Maybe, Dave, it's because the filmmakers wanted to do something
different and fun; and irritate critics like Lou and you!
Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper went head-to-head
on their TV show "Ebert, Roeper and the Movies"
(Buena Vista TV). Roeper said, "They keep them apart
for two thirds of the story, which is just infuriating and disappointing."
Ebert fires back, "The story is about two people who
are apart!"
Roeper's brain apparently went "South of the Border" and landed inside a donkey's rear-end. He needs to realize the film isn't really a true romantic comedy. It's not even a Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan wannabe. If anything, it's a dark comedy/adventure. The real romance here is with James Gandolfini and the camera. Most critics agree:
Chris Gore (filmthreat.com) disagrees: "Folks,
this just doesn't work, not the part about Leroy being gay, but
the fact that he is so sensitive. His job is to kill people, right?"
Right! But that doesn't make this character wrong, Chris.
In fact, it makes him more interesting. Heck, even Sam said to
Leroy, "You're a very sensitive person for a cold blooded
killer." Gandolfini brings the best out of Roberts and he's
the main reason to watch this movie.
Desson Howe (Washington Post) said, "At no point do
Jerry and Samantha seem romantically connected at all."
Are you blind, Desson? There's a scene when Sam asks
Jerry, "When two people really love each other, but cannot
seem to make their relationship work, at what point do they stop
trying?" The answer comes so naturally to Jerry. It's the
most romantic part of the film!
There's an irony about all this complaining among critics. Roger
Ebert said it best in his Chicago Sun-Times review,
"If it had been a Pitt-Roberts two-hander, there wouldn't
have been room for Gandolfini's wonderful character, and that
would have been a shame."
A shame, indeed! Remember the first scene with Pitt and Roberts?
Their little fight scene was somewhat annoying. Imagine, for one
moment, this dominating the film. I think you get the picture.
Jeff Vice (deseretnews.com) summed the movie up best: "Almost
everything works in this well-crafted dark comedy/thriller, which
is easily the best, most enjoyable, major-studio-produced movie
so far this year."
I give "The Mexican" 3 stars. Why? The filmmakers kept
Hollywood's hottest stars - Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts - apart
for most of the film and it worked! Plus they managed to piss
off the critics all at the same time.
It's beautiful.
--CRITIC DOCTOR
© Copyright 2001 by Herb Kane
All rights reserved.
www.criticdoctor.com
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CAST:
Jerry: Brad Pitt
Samantha: Julia Roberts
Leroy: James Gandolfini
Nayman: Bob Balaban
DIRECTOR: Gore Verbinski
PRODUCERS: John Baldecchi, Lawrence Bender
SCREENPLAY: J. H. Wyman
U.S. DISTRIBUTOR: Dreamworks
RELEASE DATE: 03.02.2001
RUNNING TIME: 123 minutes
MPAA Rating: R (violence, profanity)
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