SCREEN IT! PARENTAL REVIEW: THE MEXICAN

"THE MEXICAN"
(2001) (Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts) (R)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Moderate	Heavy	Extreme	*Moderate	Extreme

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Moderate	Minor	Moderate	None	Extreme

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Moderate	Moderate	None	Moderate	Extreme

QUICK TAKE:: Comedy/Action: While a mob errand boy tries to retrieve an old and reportedly cursed Mexican pistol, his estranged girlfriend must deal with a hit man who's kidnapped her to ensure safe delivery of the gun.

PLOT:

Jerry Welbach (BRAD PITT) has had better days. Forced to work as an errand boy for the mob after accidentally causing kingpin Arnold Margolese to be sent to jail, Jerry has just been given an ultimatum by Bernie Nayman (BOB BALABAN). Either he travel to Mexico and retrieve a supposedly cursed pistol named "The Mexican" along its current owner, or be killed for screwing up his last assignment.

He naturally chooses the former, but that doesn't sit well with his high-strung girlfriend, Samantha (JULIA ROBERTS), who's upset that his new job will prevent him from going to Las Vegas with her as he had promised. So, as Jerry heads off to Mexico in search of the pistol and Beck (DAVID KRUMHOLTZ), the young man in possession of it, Samantha packs her stuff and heads for Vegas.

On her way, however, not only does she run into one thug (SHERMAN AUGUSTUS) who tries to abduct her, but also another one, Leroy (JAMES GANDOLFINI), who shoots the first and then kidnaps her as insurance that Jerry won't try to do anything funny with the reportedly valuable pistol. Meanwhile, Jerry arrives in San Miguel and finds both Beck and the pistol, but things go terribly wrong from there as some locals steal both the gun and his rental car.

From that point on, Jerry does what he can - eventually with help from Ted (J.K. SIMMONS), his associate - to locate and retrieve the pistol, all while Samantha begins to dig deep into Leroy's personal life, eventually revealing a sensitive person inside the otherwise seemingly cold-blooded killer.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they're fans of Brad Pitt or Julia Roberts, that's a definite yes.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R: For violence and language.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: BRAD PITT plays a reluctant and somewhat bumbling errand boy for the mob who goes to Mexico to collect an antique pistol and uses strong profanity and wounds or kills various people in the process. We later learn, however, that he's paying off a debt to a mob kingpin for accidentally being the cause of sending that man to jail.
JULIA ROBERTS plays his high-strung girlfriend who's upset that he's been sent on another job, and thus heads off to Las Vegas without him. Abducted by a hit man, she uses her charming and irresistible ways to befriend that man. She also uses strong profanity and kills one man in self-defense.
JAMES GANDOLFINI plays a gay hit man whose cold-blooded, wise guy demeanor hides a more sensitive man beneath that exterior. Nevertheless, he kidnaps Samantha to ensure safe delivery of the pistol and smokes, uses strong profanity and kills.
BOB BALABAN plays the mob official who sends Jerry on his mission. He uses strong profanity and tries to double cross and harm others.
J.K. SIMMONS plays Jerry's "business" associate who arrives in Mexico to help him retrieve the pistol. He also uses strong profanity.
DAVID KRUMHOLTZ plays the young man who originally possesses the gun, drinks and uses strong profanity.; JULIA ROBERTS plays his high-strung girlfriend who's upset that he's been sent on another job, and thus heads off to Las Vegas without him. Abducted by a hit man, she uses her charming and irresistible ways to befriend that man. She also uses strong profanity and kills one man in self-defense.
JAMES GANDOLFINI plays a gay hit man whose cold-blooded, wise guy demeanor hides a more sensitive man beneath that exterior. Nevertheless, he kidnaps Samantha to ensure safe delivery of the pistol and smokes, uses strong profanity and kills.
BOB BALABAN plays the mob official who sends Jerry on his mission. He uses strong profanity and tries to double cross and harm others.
J.K. SIMMONS plays Jerry's "business" associate who arrives in Mexico to help him retrieve the pistol. He also uses strong profanity.
DAVID KRUMHOLTZ plays the young man who originally possesses the gun, drinks and uses strong profanity.; JAMES GANDOLFINI plays a gay hit man whose cold-blooded, wise guy demeanor hides a more sensitive man beneath that exterior. Nevertheless, he kidnaps Samantha to ensure safe delivery of the pistol and smokes, uses strong profanity and kills.
BOB BALABAN plays the mob official who sends Jerry on his mission. He uses strong profanity and tries to double cross and harm others.
J.K. SIMMONS plays Jerry's "business" associate who arrives in Mexico to help him retrieve the pistol. He also uses strong profanity.
DAVID KRUMHOLTZ plays the young man who originally possesses the gun, drinks and uses strong profanity.; BOB BALABAN plays the mob official who sends Jerry on his mission. He uses strong profanity and tries to double cross and harm others.
J.K. SIMMONS plays Jerry's "business" associate who arrives in Mexico to help him retrieve the pistol. He also uses strong profanity.
DAVID KRUMHOLTZ plays the young man who originally possesses the gun, drinks and uses strong profanity.; J.K. SIMMONS plays Jerry's "business" associate who arrives in Mexico to help him retrieve the pistol. He also uses strong profanity.
DAVID KRUMHOLTZ plays the young man who originally possesses the gun, drinks and uses strong profanity.; DAVID KRUMHOLTZ plays the young man who originally possesses the gun, drinks and uses strong profanity.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

The following is a brief summary of the content found in this R-rated action/comedy. Violence is listed as extreme due to various people being purposefully and accidentally killed with guns, occasionally with rather bloody results. Other non-lethal violence and threatening with harm is also present. Those responsible for such mayhem have extreme cases of bad attitudes, while those scenes and others may be tense or unsettling to some viewers, but some of them are intentionally played in more of a darkly humorous rather than realistic fashion.

Profanity is rated as extreme due to the use of at least 69 "f" words, with other expletives and plenty of colorful phrases being used. Some sexually related talk is present (some being non-explicit, a few other instances briefly are), while a homosexual encounter is implied (while some related talk about one character being gay also occurs).

Various characters smoke and drink (with some brief drunkenness occurring), while a few are heard urinating or seen sitting on toilets. Should you still be concerned about the film and its appropriateness for anyone in your home who wishes to see it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed content listings for more specific examples of what occurs in the film.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: Jerry goes into a small Mexican bar where he orders some tequila (that the bartender pours, but then drinks for himself). Jerry then has shots with Beck, while others also drink. Later, Beck appears to be intoxicated and falls down, apparently passed out (but we later learn that's not entirely the case).
Some drunken men in a small Mexican town fire their guns into the air.
Leroy complains that the problem with therapy groups is that the people sit around barefoot and smoke joints.
Jerry has a beer and Ted shows up with a bottle of liquor. We later see the two of them drinking.
Leroy admits that he was a little drunk the night before.
Margolese holds a shot of liquor.

BLOOD/GORE: Jerry passes a dead cow (with legs in the air) on the road, but beyond being dead, it's not bloody/gory.
We hear Beck urinating out on the street at night.
We see some smeared blood on the front of a car seat after a slumped over man's head slides along it. We then see blood on that man's cap, and then a hole in it as well as a bloody one on the top of his head (from where a falling bullet landed on him). After Jerry discovers this, he has some of that man's blood on his hands.
Some blood splatters onto Samantha and a bathroom stall when Leroy shoots a man. We later see her still with the blood splatter on her face and shirt.
After realizing that Samantha can't pee with him in the room (she's in a stall, he's standing outside it), he goes into the adjacent stall and begins to pee. Thus, we hear both him and then her urinating.
A person has some blood on their shirt after being shot and killed by a ricocheted bullet.
We see Ted sitting on the toilet, but don't see or hear any related activity.
Samantha comes into a bathroom where Leroy already is and sits on the toilet, but we don't see/hear any related activity.
A wounded man has some blood in his mouth and some from his nose.
We see a little bit of blood on a dead man's shirt.
A person who's been shot is a little bloody, as is a person who's committed suicide with a shot to the head (we see a pool of blood next to their head on the ground).
Jerry has a little bit of a bloody cut on the bridge of his nose.
We briefly see a bullet hole in a person's neck and then briefly see some blood come out of it.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Margolese, Nayman, Leroy and those working for/against them have both for being mobsters and/or murderous criminals.
Although it initially appears that Jerry is one of their employees, we later learn that he's paying off his "debt" to them for accidentally causing one of them to be sent to jail.
Some locals steal Jerry's car.
Jerry lies to a Mexican cop about why he's in Mexico, and that man then takes the pistol and presumably sells it for his own profit.
Trying to talk to various Mexicans who can't speak English, Jerry adds the letter "o" to various words to make them sound Spanish (some viewers may take offense to that).

FRIGHTENING SCENES: Scenes listed under "Violence" and "Blood/Gore" may also be unsettling or tense to some viewers, although some of them are played out more in a comic rather than serious/graphic fashion, but viewer reaction to all of the mayhem will vary.
After Samantha goes into the ladies room, a menacing looking man accosts her when she comes out of the stall, holding his hand over her mouth and a gun to her, threatening her. As they start to walk out, Leroy suddenly emerges from behind a door and shoots this man several times, splattering blood onto the stall wall and Samantha.
Leroy then kidnaps Samantha at gunpoint and drives her car down the freeway like a madman, just barely getting around a large semi before the lanes narrow.
For those nervous about dogs, there are a few scenes where a large and mangy mutt growls and bares its teeth at people.
A man holds a gun to Samantha as he looks for Leroy.
Jerry purposefully drives off the road and nearly crashes (several times).

GUNS/WEAPONS: Handguns/pistols: Carried by various characters and/or used to threaten, wound or kill people. See "Violence" for details.
Handguns: Fired into the air by some drunken men, resulting in bullets that fall back to the ground (and strike one man in the head, killing him).
Machine guns: Carried by men at a compound.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "You're a f*cking moron," "You f*cked up that job," "Vaya con dios, motherf*cker," "F*ck off," "F*cker," "What the f*ck did I have to do with it?" "(You) F*cked up," "You stupid motherf*cker," "You're the craziest f*ck I've ever met," "Who the f*ck are these guys?" "Shut the f*ck up," "Are you sh*tting me?" "Not just talking sh*t," "Oh sh*t," "Bullsh*t," "Sh*thead," "No sh*t," "Sh*t falls down," "Pack your sh*t," "Sh*tty," "You're sh*t out of luck," "Kevlar's for p*ssies," "Burns my ass," "Bastard," "Pissing" (urinating), "Jeez," "You're such as ass," "Nuts" (crazy), "Smart ass," "Pissed off," "Don't break my balls," "Shut up," "I'm such an ass," "What the hell is going on?" and "You're freaking me out."
Trying to talk to various Mexicans who can't speak English, Jerry adds the letter "o" to various words to make them sound Spanish.
Some drunken men in a small Mexican town fire their guns into the air.
Some men steal Jerry's rental car. In response, when he later catches one, he shoots him in the foot as he says that it's the American thing to do (in a scene that's played for laughs).

JUMP SCENES: The sudden sound of a loud truck horn might startle some viewers.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): A moderate amount of suspenseful music plays during the film.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: At least 69 "f" words (3 used with "mother," 1 used sexually), 24 "s" words, 3 slang terms using male genitals ("d*ck" and "pr*ck"), 2 using female genitals (variants of "p*ssy"), 8 asses, 1 hell, 1 S.O.B., 6 uses of "Oh my God," 4 of "G-damn," 3 of "Swear to God," 2 each of "God," "Jesus" and "Oh God" and 1 use each of "Christ" and "For Christ's sakes" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: We see Jerry's bare back and just the top of his bare butt as he sits on the edge of the bed where Samantha sleeps on the other side.
Bernie asks Jerry if he likes sex and travel. Jerry replies that he does, and Bernie then tells him to go to Mexico where he can get "all the ten dollar hookers you can shake a stick at."
After Samantha calls him a bastard, Jerry asks about those other names she called him in the bedroom the night before (but we never know what they are).
We see Ted in his underwear while also wearing a T-shirt.
Leroy and Samantha briefly talk about sex, with him saying that since Jerry is a considerate lover, he can't be all that selfish.
Samantha then realizes that Leroy is gay (as he checks out another man at a restaurant counter), and the hit man eventually admits to it (along with her inquiry as to whether he's "full throttle" gay). She then comments on his earlier response to her question of whether he was going to rape her and thought that he didn't want to have sex with her because he found her repulsive (he says that he didn't for the latter). He then jokingly asks, "Do you want me to rape you?" and she replies, "You're gay."
A postal worker briefly mentions the things he sees going through the mail including porno tapes, love dolls and "pocket p*ssies."
A gay man leads Leroy off by the hand into another hotel room and it's implied that they have sex/fool around (we later see Leroy looking at the other man who's asleep in their bed after that).
Samantha asks why Bernie would ask Jerry if he likes sex and travel, knowing full well that he was seeing her. Later, she asks Bernie if he likes sex and travel and he says that he does.
When Jerry is surrounded by some men, he tells them that he's prepared to fight and that one of them will walk away missing an ear or not being able "to f*ck anymore."

SMOKING: Leroy smokes several times, while Ted, Beck and various miscellaneous/background characters also smoke once.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: None.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Jerry and Samantha's volatile relationship.
Jerry having to pay off his "debt" to the mob by running criminal errands for them.
Homosexuality.

VIOLENCE: Although we don't see it, we hear a car crash at the beginning of a film.
Mad at him for taking another assignment, Samantha throws Jerry's belongings to the street, hitting him in the face with one of them.
In a flashback to the past, a man attempts to fire a newly crafted pistol, but it backfires, killing him (played somewhat for laughs with no blood/gore).
Jerry discovers that a man with him has been accidentally struck on the head and killed by a falling bullet (with bloody results) and then tries to duck out of the way as more falling bullets land all around him.
After Samantha goes into the ladies room, a menacing looking man accosts her when she comes out of the stall, holding his hand over her mouth and a gun to her, threatening her. As they start to walk out, Leroy suddenly emerges from behind a door and shoots this man several times, splattering blood onto the stall wall and Samantha. Leroy then violently escorts her out to her car (kidnapping her).
Jerry purposefully drives an old truck into the car owned by some thieves who stole his rental car. He then acts like he's unconscious until he grabs one of those thieves and holds a gun on him (while also aiming it at others who show up). He then fires several shots into the damaged car.
Later, he shoots this man in the foot to keep him from following him (we don't see the impact or injury and it's all played for laughs).
In a flashback to the past, a man is accidentally hit and killed by a ricocheted bullet.
Ted threatens a shopkeeper with his gun (but nothing happens).
Jerry holds his gun on a man he thinks is out to kill him (but nothing happens).
We learn that a thug threw/pushed a man from a hotel window, resulting in the latter's death (we don't see the act or impact, just a sheet-covered body).
A man holds a gun to Samantha as he looks for Leroy. Thinking he's behind a door, he fires several shots into it, but Leroy then steps out from another spot and shoots this man (who's wearing a vest, but is still wounded). Leroy then apparently shoots him where's there no protection, killing him (we see the firing, but not the impact).
A man holds a gun on another man, but then reconsiders shooting him. After their positions are reversed, that second men then aims his gun at the first man, who sees the reflection of this in a hubcap and spins around with his gun. After we hear a gunshot, we then see that one of the men is dead.
We see Jerry's point of view as someone punches him in the face twice. Later, a man smacks Jerry on the back of his head.
In a flashback to the past, a man pulls out a gun to shoot another man, but a woman grabs a pistol and prepares to shoot the first man (with everyone else pulling out their guns). The intended victim talks the woman into lowering her gun, but the first man then shoots that second man. The woman then puts the gun to her head and then shoots and kills herself.
Three people hold guns on others, with one firing theirs and killing another with a shot through the neck.

Reviewed February 27, 2001 / Posted March 2, 2001

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