Old Gringo [DVD] [2002]: Amazon.co.uk: Jane Fonda, Gregory Peck, Jimmy Smits, Patricio Contreras, Jenny Gago, Gabriela Roel, Sergio Calder�n, Guillermo R�os, Jim Metzler, Samuel Valadez De La Torre, Anne Pitoniak, Pedro Armend�riz Jr., F�lix Monti, Luis Puenzo, Glenn Farr, David Wisnievitz, Lois Bonfiglio, A�da Bortnik, Carlos Fuentes: Film & TV

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DVD Description

English Discrete Surround
French, German, Italian, Spanish Surround
Subtitles: Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hini, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish

From the Back Cover

When school teacher Harriet Winslow (Jane Fonda) swaps her unrewarding life in America for a new life in Mexico, the last thing she expects is to get caught up in the middle of the Mexican Revolution. Kidnapped by revolutionaries, she falls for the charms of the fiery young General Tomas Arroyo (Jimmy Smits - TV's NYPD Blue) and soon embarks on a passionate love affair with him.

Further friendships are forged when American author, Ambrose "Old Gringo" Bierce (Gregory Peck) arrives on the scene. With the knowledge that he is dying, Bierce is keen to keep his identity a secret, wishing to determine his own fate.

As two cultures merge, three lives become inexplicably drawn together as they face love, death and war in the adventure of a lifetime.

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3.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars An Opulent Mess, 8 July 2010

By

Bob Salter "Captain Spindrift" (Wiltshire, England) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Old Gringo [DVD] [2002] (DVD)

A film about the Mexican revolution circa 1913, with characters that include Pancho Villa and the legendary missing in action author Ambrose Bierce, starring those Hollywood heavyweights Gregory Peck and Jane Fonda, sounds like very promising material indeed for a good film. Unfortunately all we get is a very opulent mess, where a lot of good money seems to have been flushed down the loo. The film died at the box office and was annihilated by critics. That doesn't necessarily mean a film is bad, but in this case it most certainly does!

In the film the ageing author Ambrose Bierce leaves America for Mexico, because he feels that no one truly understands his work. They laud the style rather than the content with its serious issues he wishes to bring attention to. So our old Gringo decides to go to Mexico to die, like you do! He has picked an excellent time and place for this as the country is in a full blown revolution. He joins up with a young general fighting for the revolutionary armies of Pancho Villa. Both the general and Bierce fall for the charms of Jane Fonda who has gone to Mexico to be employed as a governess for a rich family. The rich family have unfortunately been swept away in the revolution, and so she decides to join the cause. But when the general refuses to leave the palacial villa he has sacked, which also happens to be where he was born, there are problems.

This was the first American film by the Argentine director Luis Puenzo. Given that the film was such a catastrophic failure, and Hollywwod is notoriously unforgiving where failure is concerned, his career in America and was short lived with minimal work. The film is based on the book "Gringo Viejo" by respected Mexican author Carlos Fuentes. The only award the film was nominated for was a "Razzie", short for "Golden Raspberry", for a very deserving Jane Fonda in the worst leading actress category for 1989. Surprisingly she was beaten to this by Heather Locklear in "The Return of the Swamp Thing". For such American acting royalty Fonda was astonishingly bad. In a number of scenes she listens to the pretentious spoutings of Peck and unconvincingly goes all doey eyed and drools over every word of this nonsensical drivel. It was truly a performance to make you cringe! Sadly Gregory Peck was little better. His ridiculous monologues trying to infuse everyone with wisdom, were just plain embarrassing. He really looked like he was struggling to remember his lines, which he probably was!

The film is like a very sparkly expensive looking jewelled necklace, but when put under the jewellers magnifying glass is found to be nothing but cheap glass of no substance or value. As one reviewer observed so accurately it was just "Another one of those coin filled vehicles of the 1980s that no one rode". Sad to see such potential wasted! Perhaps there is a good film for someone else with more imagination in the future.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Good movie, great music, 12 Dec 2011

By

JeanLouise "Scout" (London) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Old Gringo [DVD] [2002] (DVD)

In spite of reading the other scathing review on this site of this dvd, I still went ahead in purchasing it, if only to add to my Gregory Peck collection. And I'm glad I did! Granted, it's not Mr Peck's best movie but, for me, it was enjoyable enough, and his performance as a tired old writer suffering from the effects of advanced emphacemia was in my view a good, believable one. More could have been done to liven up the proceedings overall, but this was the whole point of the story - these band of men wanting to fight their cause but being prevented from doing so by their leader not willing to move from their comfortable camp, and this spirit of enforced boredom on them was captured well enough. The scene where the voluptuous young 'lady' offering her services to the ageing Gregory Peck brought a smile to my face, as did the kiss between Jane Fonda and Mr Peck, which Ms Fonda apparently insisted on many re-takes to get it right. Overall, I would recommend this to any Gregory Peck fan and for that, together with the wonderful theme music at the end, I am giving it 5 stars!

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Amazon.com: 4.1 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing, Haunting and Beautiful, 11 Oct 2005

By Donegal Dan - Published on Amazon.com

This movie was a surprise to me and a pleasant one and I would actually rate it four and a half stars. While I have never read the book on which it is based, I found it a haunting and memorable work of art in itself. The figure of Ambrose Bierce, as played by Gregory Peck, is quite fascinating but unless you are familiar with the writer (and even if you are)you may find the characterization rather hard to comprehend. However, Peck's performance is strong enough to carry you along despite this and his interaction with the other two characters--the frustrated spinster, played beautifully by Fonda, and the volatile and sexy rebel general played equally well by Smits--is totally engrossing. The love triangle, which seemed more of a father-daughter-lover relationship, could have been fleshed out more but was still pretty riveting. However, the real pull of the film is the beauty of the cinematography in battle scenes, love scenes and interiors, equally; the passion and brutality of the revolutionaries and at the same time their humanity, and the connection between the rather wildly different three central characters based on that humanity and despite the brutality, all during an epic era in the history of Mexico. I have watched this film several times now and each time I find new reasons to admire it, not the least of which is that it is just a wonderful story about characters who are electric, vibrant and mesmerizing in their search for meaning in their lives. It is fast becoming one of my all-time favorites.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A visual and emotional feast, 5 Feb 1999

By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com

Because the events of the film occur during the revolution in Mexico, one might be tempted to think of Old Gringo as an action oriented war film. Not so. It is a visual and emotional feast, a slice-of-life film that truly makes you feel what it must have been like for an American woman in a foreign country. The trio of actors, Jimmy Smits, Jane Fonda and Gregory Peck, are outstanding. Be prepared to think and feel. This is a rich feast indeed.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Unlikely Romantic Triangle Set in Pancho Villa's Mexico, 26 Nov 2004

By Ed Uyeshima - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: Old Gringo [DVD] [1989] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] (DVD)

Argentinean director Luis Puenzo seems like a smart choice to helm this epic drama since his specialty seems to be offering probing character studies in the face of larger sociopolitical issues. But this 1989 movie falls short of expectations, especially if you've read Carlos Fuentes' 1985 novel upon which this movie is based. All the elements for success seem present - a fascinating historical setting (the Mexican Revolution); rather flamboyant characters (both fictitious and fictionalized); explosive battle scenes; dramatic executions; and a romantic triangle with gauzy love scenes. Indeed, the problem is that the elements don't quite add up to a cohesive whole that induces any heartfelt passion. Set in 1913, the story focuses on an American spinster named Harriet Winslow, who has been hired to be a governess for a wealthy Mexican family on their grand hacienda. The beginning of the story shows great promise as the period detail is vivid, and the set-up of the characters promises some intriguing interactions. However, when the three primary characters come together on the hacienda, the plot seems to narrow in scope, and the story's initial gallop slows to a cant until the conclusion.

I was afraid that at 51, Jane Fonda would be at least a decade too old to play Harriet, but she actually looks right most of the time, slightly worn but constantly engaged with the swirl of activities around her. However, with a stellar career spanning three decades, she just doesn't surprise with this performance (unlike, say, her alcoholic has-been actress in 1986's "The Morning After"), and after one more film, she retired from the big screen for the next fifteen years. Granted she is playing an uptight woman on the verge of a political and sexual awakening, she just comes across as too mannered and frankly too wizened to draw the carnal attentions of two completely different men. On the other hand, it's a joy to see the relish with which Gregory Peck plays Ambrose Bierce, the real American journalist who disappeared into Mexico at this time. His charisma intact, he makes palatable his romantic overtures to Harriet and brings a realistic blend of gusto and frailty to his constant philosophizing and his slow march toward death. As the virulent General Arroyo, one of Pancho Villa's men, Jimmy Smits has to maintain a delicate balancing act between quick-tempered, violent revolutionary and smitten romantic hero. He succeeds up to a point, especially in expressing his obsession with past injustices through firepower, but there is little chemistry between him and Fonda, which leaves the ending scenes oddly hollow. The one exception is the firing squad scene, which is sufficiently shocking. The film is not a complete misfire, but given its interesting mix of historical fact and fiction, I wish it was much more than it is, even though in Peck's case, it is.

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