Gringo is a 2018 dark comedy mixing with white-knuckle action and dramatic intrigue, exploring the battle of survival for a businessman when he finds himself crossing the line from law-abiding citizen to wanted criminal.
It seems that in Nash Edgerton’s latest flick, Gringo, he’s out to prove that nice guys don’t always finish last. As a vessel to drive this point home he utilizes an A-list cast, a ridiculous plot, and some pretty vulgar humor along the way.
Things aren’t going well for Harold Soyinka (David Oyelowo). In the middle of one freezing cold Chicago morning he not only finds out that his wife (Thandie Newton) has bankrupted him, he also suspects that his boss and friend, Richard (Joel Edgerton), is secretly selling their company. Harold’s suspicion is soon confirmed whilst visiting their pharmaceutical plant in Mexico with Richard and co-owner, Elaine (Charlize Theron), who have traveled down to clean up some dirty business they’d been doing with a local cartel.
As if this weren’t enough, in the same night, Harold’s wife confesses to having an affair. Upon hearing this news Harold leaves in the middle of the night and begins to aimlessly wander Mexico. After stumbling into a rundown hotel, Harold has the idea to stage a kidnapping with the help of some locals so he can collect on the company’s ransom policy. This plan blows up in Harold’s face, however, as Richard had canceled that policy some time ago.
Meanwhile, Richard and Elaine are concerned about Harold being held hostage in the midst of a merger they’re trying complete. Richard decides to reach out to his ex-military brother, Mitch (Sharlto Copley), to extract Harold and get him home safely. While all of this is going on, the drug cartel is also hunting for Harold believing that he can get them access to the drugs that Richard and Elaine have recently cut them off from. Everything continues spiraling out of control for Harold as he is kidnapped time and time again, and he questions if he actually has anything to go home to.
This wasn’t a film that was made to win awards, it was made to entertain. It suffers from a flimsy plot and not the strongest writing in the world, but the fact that Nash was able to draw in some top tier talent (most likely aided by his brother Joel) significantly helps the cause and should draw some attention. As far as acting in ridiculous comedies goes, Gringo showcases some solid performances. It’s fun to see Edgerton, who is known for such roles as the family man in Warrior and more recently the do-gooder CIA agent in Red Sparrow, totally outside that realm as a complete scumbag and two-timing boss. He plays such a hateable character and really sells his performance with the little things he slips in, an eye roll here or a wink there. Not to be outdown, Charlize Theron also steals some thunder as Joel Edgerton’s vile and vulgar counterpart, who never holds back regardless of who is around.
Then of course we have Oyelowo, who you just can’t help but feel bad for. Every which way he looks some aspect of his life is in shambles. He’s kind, courteous, and thoughtful to everyone, despite all that his life has thrown at him. Oyelowo accomplishes exactly what Nash was going for here, and he gets you to root for his protagonist. Natural scene stealer, Sharlto Copley, is excellent as well. He’s a man that should truly be in more movies. In films such as A-Team, Hardcore Henry, and Free Fire, he demands your attention when he’s on the screen. His accents are hilarious, and he thrives in dark comedy more than most. Amanda Seyfried had a nice little appearance in this as well. Although she isn’t exactly eating up screen time, she comes into play when Harold is having a true crisis of character, and helps reaffirm to stay on the right path.
Despite the performances these actors yield, this movie still suffers from the aforementioned problems. The plot at its core doesn’t have much depth, and the weak writing on top of that makes it ever more apparent. Instead of going for witty and intelligent humor, writers Matthew Stone and Anthony Tambakis leave us with blunt and crass one-liners. It’s ok to have some of that in a movie, especially an R-rated comedy, but that can’t be all the film relies on. Due to this we are left with a forgettable comedy that came to bat with a great cast. You’ll get a laugh here or there, but will leave the theater underwhelmed and unsatisfied.