Something Old,
Something New
by Ed Owens

Early in Robert Rodriguez' pulpy Latin riff on spaghetti westerns Once Upon A Time In Mexico, rogue CIA agent Sands (Johnny Depp) speaks of the importance of maintaining the proper balance. While Sands is speaking primarily on a national (and culinary) level, the sentiment applies equally to the film, in ways that Rodriquez may not have intended.

Mexico, the third in Rodriquez' Mariachi trilogy, begins the same as Desperado, as Belini (Cheech Marin) regales Agent Sands (Johnny Depp) with yet another tale of El Mariachi's (Antonio Banderas) violent adventures, this time a bar fight with kingpin/military nut Marquez (Gerardo Vigil). Sands' interest in El Mariachi is more than just idle curiosity, as he needs the famed pistolero to stop Marquez from staging a coup d'etat backed by local drug lord Barillo (Willem Dafoe).

Still with me?

Throw in a retired FBI agent (Ruben Blades), a crooked AFN agent (Eva Mendes), and an ex-pat ex-con with a Chihuahua fetish (Mickey Rourke), add a healthy dose of crosses, double-crosses, and conspiracies, and the plot becomes so convoluted that even Art Bell would throw up his hands in disgust. Making the best of a bad situation is Depp, turning in a perfectly pitched performance as the dryly sardonic Sands. Depp appears to be having so much fun that you can't help but have fun watching him. However, as much as the film shines when Depp is onscreen, it also suffers when he isn't (which is all too often, given the number of plots and characters Rodriguez is intent on juggling).

Of course, Desperado lived or died by its action scenes, and, some would argue, so does Mexico. Unfortunately, Rodriguez brings little new to the table, providing little more than derivative set pieces that we've all seen before (some, like El Mariachi's spinning back dive over the balcony of a church, we've seen in Rodriguez' own work...remember El Mariachi's backwards dive off the rooftop in Desperado?). The action is further hampered by seemingly random editing that frequently cuts mid-beat, providing occasionally slick images that never evolve into slick sequences (even a nifty sequence involving a shackled-together Banderas and Salma Hayek feels cut short, not to mention utterly gratuitous).

The anti-climax, in which all of the various threads are resolved against the backdrop of a city-wide civilian uprising, ends with a whimper instead of a bang, relying heavily on a series of contrivances to get everybody in the right place at the right time. None of the various confrontations has any weight, mainly because the various twists and turns the plot has taken have shaped the narrative, but not the characters. There's no sense of weight, and therefore no true sense of relief. Despite Agent Sands' lecture on the importance of balance, Once Upon A Time In Mexico fails to find any.

Fortunately, Peter Berg's The Rundown strikes a nearly perfect balance. The Rock plays Beck, a "retrieval specialist" who agrees to one last job before pursuing his real dream of opening a small restaurant. The job involves tracking down and bringing back the son of an L.A. crime boss who has taken up residence in the Brazilian town of El Dorado. Of course, the job is complicated by the fact that El Dorado is run by a vicious overseer named Hatcher (Christopher Walken in all his delirious glory).

Berg knows his actors' strengths, and plays to them perfectly. The Rock comes off better than he did in last year's star vehicle The Scorpion King, and Sean Williams Scott (as the son The Rock is sent to retrieve) is less obnoxious than usual. The two play off each other well, and appear to be having a great time. Walken is...well...Walken, delivering demented riffs on everything from refrigerators to the Tooth Fairy. Unlike Mexico, The Rundown doesn't really hinge on any one character, making the overall experience more even and enjoyable. Unlike Rodriguez, Berg keeps things simple, providing just enough plot to keep things moving.

Even better are the action sequences, meticulously photographed in all their bone-crunching glory. Berg shows a great deal of discernment, laying on the style when most effective, but also knowing when to pull back. A five-on-one jungle fight scene between Beck and some local rebels is great fun, and showcases some of the best and most judicious use of slow motion in the past year. Some of the humor is a bit silly, but Berg keeps the film moving briskly (I could have done without some of the many sweeping overhead shots, but to each his own). I didn't expect much from The Rundown, but was pleasantly surprised at how much I actually enjoyed it.

In an early scene, Arnold Schwarzenegger (in an uncredited cameo) wishes The Rock good luck as they pass each other just inside a nightclub. It's as if the mantle has officially been passed, and The Rundown serves as an official introduction, a pleasant diversion that perhaps indicates good things ahead.

©2003 Ed Owens
CineScene