MOVIE REVIEW

Once Upon a Time in Mexico  (2003)

Starring: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Johnny Depp
Directors: Robert Rodriguez

Rating: R

Studio: Columbia

Release Date: 9.12.03

Review Posted: 9.12.03

Spoilers: Minor

By Sara Michelle Fetters

Depp Makes "Mexico" His Playground

It all started with a $7,000 film made with a grainy video camera and shot in seven days. Bodies flew, guns blasted and blood flowed freely. And if some of it looked awfully authentic, that was probably because the fly-by-night production couldn’t afford any more of the fake stuff. It was called “El Mariachi,” and out of the carnage a legend was born. No, not the one about the guitar-wielding assassin, I’m talking about the one about a twenty-something wunderkind who was sure to wow Hollywood with his filmmaking zeal.

Well, Robert Rodriguez hasn’t done too much “wowing,” but he definitely hasn’t lost that effervescent zeal. If anything, if you’re looking for a film shot fast, cheap and kinetically out-of-control, he’s the go-to guy. Whether working with Quentin Tarantino on the vampire splatter-fest “From Dusk ‘til Dawn” or making kid-friendly action epics with the “Spy Kids” saga, Rodriguez is a director that refuses to lose a kid’s-eye view of the devilishly ebullient glory of movies.

No more is that evident than in his first two Mariachi pictures, the low budget original that put him on the map and its 1,000-times more expensive sequel “Desperado” starring Antonio Banderas. These aren’t so much grade-B action epics, as they are really just exuberantly juvenile and stylishly made cheese factories. It’s everything-including-the-kitchen sink filmmaking just of the same type that put other caffeine-infused directors like Sergio Leone and John Woo squarely on the cinematic map. But where their sensibilities wafted more towards the melodramatically operatic, Rodriguez is more than content to pep pill-popping king of vaudevillian dinner theater.

No more is that in more evidence than in the director’s third Mariachi offering “Once Upon a Time in Mexico.” Just in case anyone would hazard to think Rodriguez might be shooting for his own “Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” the young gun shoots those expectations down right during the opening credits, proudly proclaiming the action film nothing more than a “Robert Rodriguez Flick,” one that he also “shot” (cinematography), “chopped” (edited) and “scored” (no explanation necessary). No illusions of grandeur here, that’s for sure.

Joining him for the wild ride is “Desperado” band mates Banderas, Salma Hayek, Cheech Marin and Danny Trejo. This time around, a mysterious CIA agent named Sands (Johnny Depp) tracks down the brooding and musically talented evil slayer played once more by Banderas. He wants the nameless mercenary to kill a murderous army general named Marquez (Gerardo Vigil), a man the Mariachi is more than familiar with; a terribly tragic event linking them together.

You see, the country’s leading drug lord, Barillo (Willem Dafoe), has hired the general to kill the Mexican Presidente (Pedro Armendáriz). It’s a coup designed to bring a leader to the country that’s more in line with Barillo’s criminal sensibilities. But while Sands is more than happy to see El Presidente in flowered grave, he’s not too hot on the idea of the blood-thirsty general running things. He wants the Mariachi to end Marquez’s time in charge with a quick bullet to the head, but only after the villain has succeeded in his sanguinary assignment.

But nothing is at is seams in Rodriguez’s blood-splattered dreamscape, what with a lethally gorgeous police officer (Eva Mendes), a vengeance-seeking retired FBI agent (Rubén Blades), a duplicitous advisor (Julio Oscar Mechoso) and a homesick hired gun (Mickey Rourke) clouding the picture. Double-cross follows double-cross, and the only constant the Mariachi can hang his chaps on is that somehow, some way, justice will be done and General Marquez will die.

Wearing eight hats on the film, Rodriguez acquits himself admirably in all of them save his one as writer. Unfortunately, that’s a mighty important hat to have trouble filling. “Once Upon a Time in Mexico” is an over-convoluted mess, and the chances of anyone to make heads or tails of it all is pretty much next to ‘nil. In fact, his main character the Mariachi disappears for long stretches of the film’s brisk 97-minutes, the director instead choosing to shift much of the attention on Depp’s beguilingly double-dealing CIA agent.

But that’s a good thing. For the second time this year the versatile actor has stolen a movie right from under everyone else inside it. Whether eating generous portions of stewed Mexican pork or entering into a bloody gunfight gaping holes where his eyes used to be, Depp commands the screen like a true cinematic icon. While it is obvious he knows he’s slumming, the actor could care less, turning in a performance of zestfully playful mirth and devilment that’s much more suitable in a picture of a bit more heft. He’s a joy, and if people don’t start standing up and realizing just how much of a treasure the old “21-Jump Street” regular is than I just don’t know what I’ll do.

The rest of the cast, while obviously having a grand old time slumming around in the movie’s various roles, doesn’t fare half as well. That’s mainly because Rodriguez really isn’t too sure what to do with any of them except to make sure that they meet a stylistically violent end. And while Banderas owns the character of the Mariachi at this point, even he seems a little tired of all the passionate earnestness and ensanguined acrobatics he’s called upon to do.

Ah, so what. I know I’m taking all of this much, much too seriously, and there are some admittedly deliriously entertaining moments littered about Rodriguez’s hyper-energetic mess. I’m just getting tired of seeing the talented youngster spinning his wheels. I have no problem letting him make fun and vivaciously indefatigable B-movies; he just needs to start putting something in the way of coherence somewhere inside of them. Without Depp’s epically entertaining portrayal, “Once Upon a Time in Mexico” would be fairy tail of very little importance indeed.

Rating: êê1/2  (out of 4)

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