How I Spent My Summer Vacation
Starring: Mel Gibson, Daniel Jimenez Cacho, Roberto Sosa, Peter Stormare, Dolores Heredia
Director: Adrian Grunberg
Rating: 3/5
It’s been a tricky few years for Mel Gibson both on and off the big screen but this week he returned with his new movie How I Spent My Summer Vacation, originally called Get The Gringo.
The movie sees Gibson star as well as pen the script when Adrian Grunberg is in the director’s chair for his feature film debut.
It’s been a bad day for Driver (Gibson) and it’s not getting any better. He just made a big haul of millions that would give him a nice summer vacation on easy street. A good idea that went south - literally.
During a high-speed car chase with the US Border Patrol, and a bleeding body in his back seat, Driver flips his car smashing through the border wall, tumbling violently, coming to a stop - in Mexico.
Apprehended by the Mexican authorities, he is sent to a hard-core prison where he enters the strange and dangerous world of 'El Pueblito', the worst prison in all of Mexico. Not an easy place for an outsider such as Driver to survive, unless it’s with the help of someone who knows the ropes - a 10 year-old kid.
The action genre is where Gibson made his name twenty years ago and it’s great to see him return to him return to it with his new movie.
There is a real charm to Gibson in the role as the down and out Driver who finds himself on a mission to protect a young boy.
The Oscar winner brings a real swagger of attitude and likeability to the central character and right from the off you are rooting for him because deep down he has a good heart.
But this is quite a convoluted story with many different strings, stories and double crossing characters that it does get a little bogged down in the middle and it loses a bit of energy and pace.
There is also a serve lack of character detail and development and when the credits finally role you feel like you don’t know any more about Gibson’s character than you did when the movie started, which is a little frustrating.
How I Spent My Summer Vacation is an action packed movie that is full of twists and turns as well as some great comedic moments and interesting characters.
This is a solid debut from Grunberg and he really has got the best out of Gibson in the central role, he oozes charisma and shows that when it comes to the action sequences that he still has it.
How I Spent My Summer Vacation is out now
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in Mel Gibson