Synopsis
The odds are against him. So is everyone else.
A career criminal nabbed by Mexican authorities is placed in a tough prison where he learns to survive with the help of a 9-year-old boy.
2012 Directed by Adrian Grünberg
A career criminal nabbed by Mexican authorities is placed in a tough prison where he learns to survive with the help of a 9-year-old boy.
Mel Gibson Kevin Hernandez Daniel Giménez Cacho Peter Stormare Jesús Ochoa Roberto Sosa Dolores Heredia Mario Zaragoza Peter Gerety Bob Gunton Gerardo Taracena Dean Norris Tenoch Huerta Mejía Fernando Becerril Scott Cohen Zak Knutson Tom Schanley Jace Jeanes Clayton J. Barber Patrick Bauchau Denise Gossett Regina Orozco Stephanie Lemelin Suzanne Cryer J.J. Perry
J.J. Perry Matías Salgado Balo Bucio Carlos Marroquín Nayeli Rosas Jordi Sendra Morales Juan Carlos Olalde
How I Spent My Summer Vacation, Dorwać gringo, Atrapen al Gringo, Kill The Gringo, «Весёлые» каникулы, Веселые каникулы, 겟 더 그링고, Viaggio in paradiso, Gringo'yu Yakala, Dorwać Gringo, Börtönregény, Apanha-me Esse Gringo, Moje letní prázdniny, Kill the Gringo, חופשה קטלנית, 抓住外国佬, Vacaciones en el infierno, Uhvati Gringa, Οι Καλοκαιρινές μου Διακοπές, Vacanță după gratii, Plano de Fuga, 완전범죄 프로젝트, Как прекарах лятната ваканция, Trakās brīvdienas, Moje letné prázdniny, Vacaciones Explosivas, 致命反擊, Sumautos Atostogos Meksikoje, キック・オーバー, คนมหากาฬระอุ, Ujemi gringa, «Веселі» канікули, Vacances a l'infern, დაიჭირე გრინგო
A gritty action drama, one that provides decent humor and ridiculously over the top actions. The chaotic prison setting, the everyday survival struggle within it, Mexican vibe music, Gibson’s character and his friendship with a young kid are about the other effectively executed elements which make it work. At just 95 minutes, it ends up a decent enough watch.
After initially starting off watching this with some pretty awful subtitles, Prime finally got some dubs and was able to enjoy this wildly troubled and insanely Bronson/Death Wish-like, Robert Rodriguez-tuned, kind of Cannon Group revenge thriller. The plot really doesn't make sense and the world seems like a gritty, Mexican version of Escape from New York with less of a military involvement.
You might be bothered by this film if you are really bothered by Mel Gibson, not because he leans heavily towards racism, but because you might find your cynical side triggered and pissed off at what may seem like hipocresy. It was enjoyable enough for what it is and was going for, and while I didn't fully root…
Solid DTV action/prison exploitation movie that appears to be aiming for that Siegel & Eastwood combo of grit and bluntness but not without a sense of humor. I'd say for what it is it gets most of the way there. Gibson plays up the charm and physicality as his knockoff man with no name plays both sides of a brutal criminal war, and for some reason, it was shot by Benoît Debie so there's a lot of texture to it. Also the rare example of pairing an action star with a kid and the kid kinda holding his own.
This shows Gibson really still has got what it takes to make a film work. The outline of the plot here isn't very original, but what's in it is refreshingly different to entertain its audiences for its running time.
I'm not sure what the Mexican tourist board would make of this film, but I was more than willing to grant it just a snippet of suspension of disbelief and allow myself to be entertained by a story that is told with perfect pacing. It strikes a fine balance in exposition and action. Not so in tone, however. It switches between light and serious clumsily, thus distancing me from caring about the characters.
Still, Gibson is in top form here. He is charming and has enough energy to pull off some wonderful action sequences. What remains is a well made and very entertaining action film that is certainly worthy of your attention.
Get the Gringo AKA How I spent my Summer Vacation was a comeback film for Mel Gibson. It was also written and produced by Mel which is probably why his character is so cool and witty. A bit of an ego massage.
Anyway, Mel plays a character escaping from the police in a car chase as he races towards the Mexican border. He has a bag full of money in the car with him, seemingly the result of some kind of robbery. He manages to crash through the border to be pounced upon by the Mexican police on the other side. A couple of the corrupt police officers take the money for themselves and have Mel thrown into an open…
My initial watch of this film was back in the days when Mel Gibson's career was in the shitter. He'd been ostracized by Hollywood since 2006 when his drunken anti-Semitic rant at a police officer got him up to his neck in deep shit. Within 24 hours of his arrest, his wife of 26 years left him along with their 7 children and in 2009 finally filed for divorce. Pleading down to a drink-driving misdemeanor, Gibson was sentenced to 3 years probation as well as a host of self-help classes and alcohol screening, and just as he hit rock bottom it became clear that friends were in short supply. The divorce settlement apparently cost him over $300 million dollars, I'm…
Here's a great example of an entertaining main character. He's active, which means he does things on his own instead of waiting for stuff to happen. He's determined, which means he keeps trying instead of whining or moping around. He's witty, which means he can solve conflict situations in an enjoyable way. Shades of Jack Sparrow.
Also, I don't know what it is about old man Mel Gibson but for some reason he's always very captivating to watch on screen no matter the movie.
It seems like I've given a hell of a lot of films 3 and a half stars lately!
There's a lot wrong with Get The Gringo (a much better title than the stupidly non-committal How I Spent My Summer Vacation) but there's a lot more that's right with it. The main thing that's right with it is Mel Gibson, and as someone whose formative years were littered with repeated watches of the first three Lethal Weapon films, this was a particular delight to me.
In-between being racist, homophobic, xenophobic, misogynistic and just generally a very naughty boy in the last few years, Gibson stuck this film out a couple of years ago more or less under the radar. The result…
This is confusing, this is snappily titled, "How I spent my Summer Vacation" in the UK. Though we do know what a Gringo is, so who knows why they changed it.
I really liked this. I reckon Mel must've been watching some Korean films as this totally feels like one. Ridiculous brutal violence, incompetent police, melodrama, comedy and tonally shifting all over the shop.
Gibson decent, the kid really good. The prison setting, absolutely insane. Had a blast with this, but I can predict this getting a lot of hate.
If this was Korean, it would be picking up 4 stars across the board.
A wily action-drama that succeeds thanks to its leading man and its south-of-the-border energy, Adrian Grunberg's "Get the Gringo" is an entertaining if small-scale piece of work. Starring Mel Gibson as an American bad guy stuck in a Mexican prison, the film is full violent color and inviting verve.
"Get the Gringo" revolves around a career criminal who literally crashes into the US/Mexican border and finds himself incarcerated in something more like a community than a prison. Setting up allegiances in order to survive and prosper, Gibson's American eventually makes his way to acts of both liberation and vengeance.
Grunberg, wisely, focuses on Gibson's character and the charm that the actor exudes with every word. The character is no stretch…
Torture by Mariachi.
Mel Gibson doing time in boiling Tijuana after stealing too much money from the wrong guy. Now everybody wants a piece of him. As if that isn't enough he befriends a kid whose time is running out. The piece they want from this 10-year-old? His liver. Great opening with clowns on the run in a film that turns out to be thrilling, brutal, shocking and also quite funny. Sometimes you think somebody like Shane Black wrote this one.
Other times you wish he had, because it does loses some momentum here and there. And things get pretty crazy towards the end, but it has one thing to fall back on for almost its entire runtime; the prison. Something of a small village slash mall actually. Sweaty, nasty, oh so crowded and filled with scum. Add corruption, gore, shoot-outs and the most relaxed voice ever and you have a film that is surprisingly entertaining.
I had never heard of this film until I saw a review for it on this site. Happy I did. Mel Gibson's character is almost the same as the movie Payback which is one of my favorite Gibson movies. He's great at playing characters like this. A guy that has a moral compass that might change depending on how the wind is blowing that day. It's violent, has witty dialogue, has a setup and premise that is original for the genre. Highly enjoyable.