GET THE GRINGO/ HOW I SPENT MY SUMMER VACATION

US, 2012, 95 minutes, Colour.
Mel Gibson, Kevin Hernandez, Dolores Heredia, Bob Gunton, Patrick Bauchau.
Directed by Adrian Grunberg.

Originally titled, How I Spent My Summer Vacation, this would have been completely misleading for those who thought this might be a nice holiday story. Get the Gringo gets to the core of the film at once.

Since his real-life troubles, Mel Gibson has not appeared in many films, only Edge of Darkness and The Beaver (which reminded audience how persuasive an actor Gibson could be). Get the Gringo is familiar Gibson material. He is a tough action loner who has a way with quips and a touch of sentiment despite his criminal behaviour and his proneness to add to body counts.

At first, we are immersed in one of the most squalid Mexican prisons that you could ever hope never to visit let alone be interned in. Gibson is The Driver who is captured on the US-Mexican border after robbing a drug czar from San Diego. Police on both sides of the fence are corrupt. So what hope does The Driver have? Well, he has his wits as well as quite some criminal skills and he does survive the brutality and ugliness of the prison which is set up as a town within its walls with women and children living there. The Driver befriends a tough little type – who has a different story. His rare blood type means that his liver is precious for a transplant for the ruthless overseer of the prison. There are a range of despicable characters and exploiters.

It moves back to more familiar Gibson material when The Driver does a deal and gets out of prison to get rid of the drug czar. At this moment, it seemed that he might really be a cop in deep cover – especially when he sets up quite a con, very smart, to entrap the criminal chief. He is not. But, at that moment, the police decide to raid the prison, the overseer demands his transplant, and Mel, of course, comes to the rescue.

It’s tough, brutal-languaged entertainment for those who like this kind of thing. So, that was how he spent his summer vacation.


1. The title, the tone? The contrast with How I Spent My Summer Vacation? Driver’s perspective? Sardonic?

2. The Mexican settings, the US-Mexican border, the town, the squalid prison, the town within the prison: homes, the apartments for the rich, the shops, the school? The visits of the American Consul? The contrast with the desert? The border fence? The contrast with San Diego and the plush buildings? The musical score?

3. Mel Gibson, the action hero, his career, the Mel Gibson type?

4. The initial robbery, the thieves dressed as clowns, the car chase, the border, the crashing through, the shooting? The arrest, the Mexican cop seeing the money? Corruption and both sides?

5. The prison itself, the fate of the gringo, treatment? The crowds of prisoners, playing them the music, crowding them in the one room, the speech of the chief? Finding a place to stay, the Driver getting his room, his deals?

6. The Driver as shrewd, observant, stealing the money, setting the fire, tricking the blind man? His interactions with the boss, his henchmen? Meeting the Kid? His mother? The discussions with the Consul? With the police? The contact with San Diego, Frank and his drug money?

7. The character of the Kid, seeing the Driver stealing the money, wanting cigarettes? His story, father and mother dealers, his father’s death, his rare blood type and giving his liver for the boss? Taking the Driver’s blood? The Kid and his help, the dangers? The mother and her reaction, her having to act as a prostitute with the officials? The Driver and his concern, his helping to rescue the mother and son?

8. The boss, his liver, his brother and his henchmen, the brutality, the deaths? The gringo and the deals? The preparation for the operation?

9. San Diego, Frank and the money, the deals with the Consul, the police and their being rounded up, tortured and shot for the money, the Skyping of Frank? The local thugs coming in, the deaths of the police?

10. The Driver, getting the money, the car, his calling on Mr Kaufmann, talking with his secretary, pretending to be Clint Eastwood? His ringing Frank’s lawyer, the lawyer setting up the interview? Coming to the office – protecting Mr Kaufmann, the secretary? Setting off the grenades?

11. The siege of the prison, the police arriving, the boy in hiding, his mother being tortured, the boy stabbing himself, the doctor’s arrival, patching up the boy, preparations for the operation? The Driver and his intervention? The nurse and her turning on the boss?

12. The hospital, the ambulance, the mother and son with the Driver, getting out to safety?

13. The happy ending on the beach – how I spent my summer vacation?