Gringo

• Directed by Nash Edgerton
• March 9, 2019

A middle manager is sent to Mexico to deliver an experimental marijuana pill but is eventually kidnapped by a drug cartel.

Gringo is an action comedy that uses the topical subject of medical marijuana to get the ball rolling on the story. We have a company and its execs engaging in some shady and less-than-legal dealings along with a naïve middle manager who experiences a bit of a midlife crisis and general awakening caught as he is caught up in events.

Harold Soyinka (David Oyelowo) is a nice guy trying to get through life by doing the right thing but he just gets screwed over time after time without really realizing it. He’s nice to the point of sacrificing himself. He keeps his eye on the ball but fails to notice what is going on around him.

Though more than a bit out of his element in the story, you cheer for Harold as he is stumbling through this world and actually navigating it. But more importantly, he doesn’t navigate it perfectly. He makes his mistakes but they’re not so bad that when he goes onto the next step, it’s unbelievable.

Harold works for Chicago based Promethium Pharmaceuticals run by Richard Rusk (Joel Edgerton) and Elaine Markinson (Charlize Theron) who also happen to be lovers. Richard claims to be Harold’s friend but really isn’t. Heck, the only reason Richard hired his ‘friend’ Harold was to use him as an unknowing middleman in his dealings with a Mexican drug cartel run by Juan Miguel “Pantera Negra (Black Panther)” Villegas (Carlos Corona) with an obsession with The Beatles.

Given the nickname I am surprised they did not make Villegas a comic book geek rather than a Beetles fanboy. It would have made sense given his nickname. I am curious if there was a fear of a lawsuit. Or maybe nobody thought as deeply about it as me. Missed opportunity regardless.

Richard is a self-serving asshole and has a clearly fake charm. Yet he overwhelms people with his fake kindness to the point they ignore it. Charlize Theron is great as Elaine who can best be described as a cold bitch. She is intelligent but as superficially nice as Richard and is not afraid to use her sexuality to whatever extent is necessary to get what she wants.

When Harold finds out about a merger where he will lose his job, he decides to fake a kidnapping which turns into a real kidnapping when Black Panther, thinking Harold runs the company, decides to kidnap him because Richard and Elaine are cutting off the pill supply to Black Panther because of the forthcoming merger.

Sharlto Copley is just great. He has real talent and it’s a shame he isn’t bigger than he is. He brings something special to everything he does. Here he plays Mitch who is the brother of Richard. Mitch for his part is seeking to atone for his previous life by doing charity work in Haiti. You get the feeling though he would rather be a government killer and somehow keep a clean conscience than just making amends. Copley approaches the part with a high level of energy and enthusiasm. He is a likeable character with a crazy gleam in his eye.

There are no real saints to be found in Gringo. Even Harold falls a bit. I have made no secret that I generally dislike films packed with horrible examples of humanity. But given that this is a comedy they are comically bad and that makes it okay. Even the kills can be humorous. There are drug lords, backstabbing executives, and it all mixes together in a weird way. This is dark and funny. There are even a few moments where you will laugh out loud. Not long and hard but you’ll get a good laugh.

There are so many moving and interconnected parts here with a wide cast of characters. Yet it all works together so smoothly and it doesn’t feel overstuffed. Elements overlap with one leading into/explaining the other. Amazingly there is one plot with supporting elements rather than numerous subplots.

One of the themes if any are to be found is to do the right thing. Harold has worked hard and done the right thing all of his life and yet has not gotten ahead. He hasn’t become rich and successful. Ultimately, though at the end it’s shown that he and everybody else that was getting screwed over in one form or another came out on top with those doing the screwing getting what the deserved.

Harold’s wife (Thandiwe Newton) was cheating on him with Richard and at the end is alone and has gained all her weight back. Elaine turned state’s evidence and got off scot-free. She was going to be out of a job and she wasn’t even Richard’s number one fling. Richard is arrested. Sunny (Amanda Seyfried), who helped Harold in Mexico is now living a good life without her boyfriend (Harry Treadaway) who got arrested. And Sanchez (Hernán Mendoza) who lost a toe because of everything is happily coaching youth soccer.

I’m not sure though that the lesson should’ve been applied to Elaine. Not that she didn’t eventually do the right thing in the context of her section of the film but she did a lot of wrong things which aided in the whole situation. The rest, however, got exactly what they deserved.

Gringo is a great dark action comedy which even if you don’t initially see it has a message. It’s got great characters and is just funny as well as being exciting. If you haven’t caught it, you most certainly should. You will not be disappointed!