Gringo (dir. Nash Edgerton)

There’s so much going on in Nash Edgerton’s ramschackled Mexican caper "Gringo", from it’s ensemble cast wrestling for screen time, to it’s B-movie action set-pieces, you almost feel like it’s going to completely fall apart at any second.

Credit then to the Australian director - behind the camera for the first time since 2008’s THE SQUARE - that this isn’t the case, as he manages to pluck an enjoyable and mildly engaging - albeit inherently cynical - snapshot of greed and corruption in modern day America, from what could have been overripe pastiche.

Co-wirrten by our director and “Soul Man” screenwriter Matthew Stone, this irrevrrent black comedy never takes itself too seriously, while seemingly never-ending plot twists and character reveals wash over you like a strong glass of gin, the talented cast bring it home for the most part.

We follow lovable patsy and mild-mannered middle management pharamacetucial rep Harold Soyinka (David Oyelowo) - a Nigerian immigrant living in Chicago with wife Bonnie (Thandie Newton). He’s heard rumors on the grape-vine of his company Cannabax (which has designed the worlds first "weed pill") being the subject of a possible multi-billion dollar merger - which would no-noubt leave him jobless, something he can’t deal with right now given his financial hardships. A simple reassurance from boss Richard Rush (Joel Edgerton, brother of director Nash) - who he believes to be his friend - leaves him less than convinced, but they can’t worry about that right now - as Richard and his on/off again work dalliance Elaine (Charlize Theron) have to go to Mexico to deal with their shady drug smuggling side-project with the cartels, and bring Harold along for the ride. Realizing he's just a pawn in their game, and that his wife has been seduced into a salacious affair with said boss, he decides to be the genial schmuck no-longer and orchestrates his own kidnapping and asks for a $5 million ransom - which unsurprisingly they don't want to pay. But here’s Harold’s downfall - he’s the nice guy - and his ineptitudes at deviance aren't well executed - before long, there's drug-lords, hitman and his former managers all after him, as hilarity ensues south of the border.

Gringo , which means "An American not of the hispanic or latino persuasion" - is sort of an semi-ironic title for the film, given the madcap escapes which pits a black man, from Nigeria no-less, front and center (this was Oyelowo's decision as a homage to his African roots) - and they get away with it for the most part. There’s something to be said for the perennial underdog, and Harold is the poster man for such an occasion; realizing his life is over, there’s a bounty on his head and he has no-one in his life he can turn too, he’s the embodiment of danger: a man with nothing to loose and a grudge to bare. This allows for Olyweyo to have fun with the role - a particularly amusing scene in which he becomes inebriated and talks to himself for an extended period of time is proof of the English actor’s dynamic ability to be both charm us with his charisma and his buffoonery, simultaneously.

The harebrained connections of the plot than make up most of the drama - as characters enter long enough to just screw over their fellow counterparts, and there a few chuckles here and there.There are excellent exchanges between Oyelowo and Sharlto Copley - Richard's former assassin turned humanitarian brother- who's offered a big pay check to track down Harold in the latin underground; their deliberations about faith, life and greed are admittedly fleeting but surpass the otherwise shabby fiction on screen. Edgerton - who made his trade as a stuntman and action co-ordinator - directs the tale with certain vision and a cynical view of humanity - all it seems are only interested in personal gain from their existence.

A devishly unmemorable side-plot about a guitar-shop worker Miles (Harry Treadaway) - who unwittingly gets himself and his girlfriend Sunny (Amanda Seyfried) wrapped up in the Mexico madness during attempts at a muling the weed pill (Paris Jackson provides the role of the fence in a scene-stealing sexy turn) seem to be from a completely different film and only serves to confuse you even more once the kidnapping debacle takes full flight, and a ham-fisted attempt at a fleeting romance between Sunny and Harold is alluded to throughout which feels convoluted and oddly out of place.

But the film’s main message of attaining greed by any mens necessary is encapsulated brilliantly by the film’s main star Charlize Theron. Yet another Hollywood staple which isn’t afraid of using it’s female characters as powerful sexpots who effortlessly use their brooding sexuality as a weapon to achieve betterment in their lives is alright in my book, and Theron is nothing if she isn’t enigmatic in her most devious moments. Comedic effort also comes from a drug cartel don “The Black Panther” (Hector Kotsifakis) and an on-going joke pertaining to the greatest works of the Beatles is a welcome respite from the frivolousness in the shenanigans, though you can’t help but feel that a better film would have cut some of the extraneous cameos and a trim here and there into a better suited 85-minute B-movie caper.

Nevertheless, there’s method in the madness, and in the grand scheme of things, despite Harold’s ineptitude at a life of crime and his brash understanding of South-American politics, you sympathize with the hand he’s been dealt and root for his success - no matter how foolish they may be. A neater film - with a more straightfoward narrative style - is in here somewhere, but the resulting product is eye-catching in parts and helped immensely by it’s cast abilities to never bore you.

Rating 3/5