Old Gringo
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Actor: Gregory Peck, Jane Fonda, Jenny Gago, Jimmy Smits, Patricio ContrerasBrand: Sony
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 4.0; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Georgian (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 4.0
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 1.85:1
Running Time: 119 minutes
Published: 2002-07-01
DVD Release Date: 2002-07-02
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
DVD Reviews of Old Gringo
DVD Review: Unlikely Romantic Triangle Set in Pancho Villa's Mexico
Summary: 3 Stars
Argentinean director Luis Puenzo seems like a smart choice to helm this epic drama since his specialty seems to be offering probing character studies in the face of larger sociopolitical issues. But this 1989 movie falls short of expectations, especially if you've read Carlos Fuentes' 1985 novel upon which this movie is based. All the elements for success seem present - a fascinating historical setting (the Mexican Revolution); rather flamboyant characters (both fictitious and fictionalized); explosive battle scenes; dramatic executions; and a romantic triangle with gauzy love scenes. Indeed, the problem is that the elements don't quite add up to a cohesive whole that induces any heartfelt passion. Set in 1913, the story focuses on an American spinster named Harriet Winslow, who has been hired to be a governess for a wealthy Mexican family on their grand hacienda. The beginning of the story shows great promise as the period detail is vivid, and the set-up of the characters promises some intriguing interactions. However, when the three primary characters come together on the hacienda, the plot seems to narrow in scope, and the story's initial gallop slows to a cant until the conclusion.
I was afraid that at 51, Jane Fonda would be at least a decade too old to play Harriet, but she actually looks right most of the time, slightly worn but constantly engaged with the swirl of activities around her. However, with a stellar career spanning three decades, she just doesn't surprise with this performance (unlike, say, her alcoholic has-been actress in 1986's "The Morning After"), and after one more film, she retired from the big screen for the next fifteen years. Granted she is playing an uptight woman on the verge of a political and sexual awakening, she just comes across as too mannered and frankly too wizened to draw the carnal attentions of two completely different men. On the other hand, it's a joy to see the relish with which Gregory Peck plays Ambrose Bierce, the real American journalist who disappeared into Mexico at this time. His charisma intact, he makes palatable his romantic overtures to Harriet and brings a realistic blend of gusto and frailty to his constant philosophizing and his slow march toward death. As the virulent General Arroyo, one of Pancho Villa's men, Jimmy Smits has to maintain a delicate balancing act between quick-tempered, violent revolutionary and smitten romantic hero. He succeeds up to a point, especially in expressing his obsession with past injustices through firepower, but there is little chemistry between him and Fonda, which leaves the ending scenes oddly hollow. The one exception is the firing squad scene, which is sufficiently shocking. The film is not a complete misfire, but given its interesting mix of historical fact and fiction, I wish it was much more than it is, even though in Peck's case, it is.
Description of Old Gringo
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