Delayed Reaction: Gringo

The Pitch: A lot of really talented actors signed on for this shaggy dog crime comedy. If nothing else it must be good because of the strength of their performances.

A mid-level businessman gets caught up in a kidnapping plot when delivering an experimental marijuana pill to his a factory in Mexico.

Sometimes, I'm really thankful when I get around to watching a movie that I didn't decide to see it in theaters. When I see a movie in theaters, I feel compelled to write a pretty traditional review of it in a Movie Reaction. When I watch at home, it gets the less formal Delayed Reaction treatment. I opt for looser Delayed Reactions for a number of reasons. The main one is that I'd shoot myself if I tried to put in the Movie Reaction time to each of these posts. I average about a post a day currently. My output would drop so much if I switched to that. There's also the fact that my level of focus at home is less than in a theater. I have to give all my attention to a movie in a theater. At home, when a movie starts to lose me, I can shift my focus elsewhere. I  can judge it in real time. Of course, I'm just rationalizing my own laziness and lack of commitment, but dammit, it's what keeps me sane.

I very nearly saw Gringo in theaters. I didn't only because it came out at the height of March Madness (college basketball). And I'm thankful now that I didn't. It's not even that I disliked the movie. I just wasn't on its wavelength. While watching it at home, I could not get myself to pay attention to it, which is strange. On paper, it looks like something I'd enjoy. It has a killer cast (David Oyelowo, Charlize Theron, Joel Edgerton, Thandie Newton, Amanda Seyfried, Sharlto Copley). It has the kind of cynical humor that normally appeals to me. On the surface, this looks like a distant cousin to my beloved Free Fire. Something about it didn't work at all though. I kept finding myself rewinding after I realized I'd zoned out. I even looked up the Wikipedia summary as I was going through the movie hoping it would trick me into reengaging. It was just too much going on with characters who I didn't care about.

Really, this fits the description of a movie I need to give another chance to. I'd love to see David Oyelowo being this silly in another comedy. I'd like Charlize Theron and Joel Edgerton digging their teeth into sleazebag roles again. Sharlto Copely as a morally conflicted assassin-turned-charity worker is an idea that should have a movie built around it. Amanda Seyfried...well...I like her, even though I really couldn't figure out what she was doing in this movie. The movie was convoluted in a way that made it interminable when I lost interest so early. I'm not sure how this movie was only 111 minutes. I thought it was pushing up against the 2.5hr. mark when I was watching it.

This is a weird one to come up with a Verdict for. I'm not sure this is a movie I hate. I suspect that if I watch it again, I'll enjoy it more, or at least not find it as repellent as I do now. The problem is, I didn't like Gringo enough to consider rewatching it.

So, how about this? I'll stick with my gut reaction for now. If you disagree, convince me it's worth reconsidering, because, despite all the words I've committed to this post, I can't verbalize what I disliked so much about it.

Verdict (?): Strongly Don't Recommend