Wednesday night in Austin, Texas the embattled (but cheery) Mel Gibson popped down to the Alamo Drafthouse to premiere his latest film/star vehicle, the darkly comic Mexico-set action pic Get the Gringo. Though his most recent and public feud with Maccabee screenwriter Joe Eszterhas took a notoriously ugly turn of late, Gibson was jovial and in a joking mood – even when moderator Harry Knowles dared to make reference to Gibson’s documented anti-Semitic remarks.
The film, co-written by Gibson, director Adrian Grunberg, and producer Stacy Perskie over the course of a year and a half (from an idea by Gibson), follows an American career criminal known as Driver (Gibson) as he flees American authorities and makes a break for the U.S. –Mexico border with millions in stolen cash. Thrown into a Mexican prison modeled on a real life “pueblito” – an effective working city operating within the confines of a fortress run by gangsters and corrupt officials – Driver uses his unique set of skills and a newfound friendship with a street-smart 10-year-old (Kevin Hernandez) to survive and plot his way out.
Gringo is an effective and at times strangely winning B-movie vehicle for Gibson, whose precise and hardened Driver doles out wisecracks and ruthlessness in equal measure, orchestrating the downfall of a network of interconnected baddies while redeeming himself through his friendship with his young sidekick and the kid’s comely mother. Squibs of blood fly fast and furious as shoot-outs, torture scenes, and an energetic opening car chase scene keep the action pulse quickening throughout; it’s the kind of movie in which Gibson dives sidelong through the air in slow motion in a gunfight and nails a bad guy through the eye with his superhuman shooting skills without getting so much as grazed by a bullet.
In other words: It’s better than your average direct-to-DVD title and a fleeting return to the smart-ass Mel Gibson, movie star, that audiences fell for in films like Lethal Weapon.
But are audiences ready yet to forgive the once-adored actor for his personal troubles and transgressions? Gibson’s well-publicized meltdowns are likely partially to blame for Gringo’s unusual release strategy; instead of a traditional theatrical release, the film will release via Direct TV on May 1. Which brings us to The Awkward Moment at the Gringo premiere when Gibson’s personal troubles came front and center.
It was late in the post-premiere Q&A (which was streamed online and shown via satellite in participating theaters) when Knowles turned to director/co-writer Grunberg to address the elephant in the room. “I see that you’ve got a Star of David on,” began Knowles. “How was it -- did y’all have any trouble working together or anything?”
“I hate his guts,” Grunberg joked, before nodding off any suggestion of ill relations with Gibson. “I’ve known him for six, seven years.”
Moments later, co-writer Perskie chimed in with an admission of his own: “I’m Jewish.”
“Funny,” quipped Gibson, “you don’t look Jewish!”
The attendees around me at the Los Angeles screening audibly gasped at Gibson’s joke, a less than successful attempt at levity. But just like that, the moment when the entire night could’ve bombed just simply passed. Knowles, his basic duty done, moved on to easier topics. What music did the Gringo gang listen to during filming? (“The music of the spheres,” was Gibson’s non-serious answer.) What about that Viking movie? (Oh, that.)
So it seems that Gibson’s not quite tiptoeing around his past remarks. It's business as usual, perhaps – why make a big deal of it? Whether or not that line of flippant joking in the general direction (if not near vicinity) of his most controversial comments to date should affect how film audiences see him is a matter of opinion. For now, mull it over and chew on six more revelations Gibson shared Wednesday night.
Will we see another Lethal Weapon movie?
“Maybe,” he answered. “I don’t know who’s going to make it or be in it or anything… I’d like to see one, with someone else.”
While Gibson has no information about a new Lethal Weapon being made with or without his involvement, he lent his support to George Miller’s planned Mad Max reboot. “They’re doing one of those Mad Max movies with a very good actor, a young fella called Tom Hardy, and I met Tom and he’s cool. Best of luck to them.”
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Why opt to release Get the Gringo via Direct TV?
Gibson, who produced Get the Gringo in addition to co-writing and starring in it, offered some explanation to why Direct TV was a reasonable release platform. “We’re just in a different era. Many people like to see this stuff in their homes, you don’t have to go through the rigmarole of prints. Even the filmmaking process itself is becoming digital, and I like that better. I use a RED camera over a Panavision. It’s just another way to do it, and I think a better way to do it, and I think it’s the future.”
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Five Chinese guys get arrested in Mexico… On the real life Mexican prison experiment that inspired the compact, bustling prison-city in the film.
I winced as Gibson started to tell an incredible true story about the Tijuana prison called “El Pueblito” that inspired the film’s setting: “Five chinese guys got arrested trying to smuggle a hay bale full of marijuana out of Mexico," he began. "They got thrown into El Pueblito, in four weeks they had a restaurant up and running inside the place. And people used to come from the outside to eat in there.”
False alarm! Nothing terribly cringe-worthy here. Carry on.
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Will Gibson make an appearance in Machete 2?
“I was just talking to Robert Rodriguez upstairs,” admitted Gibson, who called the Austin-based filmmaker a “nice guy.” Although he wouldn’t confirm his involvement in Rodriguez’s Machete sequel, Gibson’s enthusiasm suggested the possibility was strong. “We were talking about this. It sounds fun.”
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On directing advice from Clint Eastwood:
Gibson, who does a decent raspy Eastwood impression, spoke of his longstanding friendship with the filmmaker. “I called Clint up – I’ve known him for years –when I was doing my first directing job. I said, ‘Clint’ – because he’s Clint, the tall one, who’s not scared of anything – I said, ‘Clint, I’m terrified.’ And he said, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ He’s just always on the phone, he’s like Deep Throat or something.‘Don’t worry about it. Just say ‘action’ and ‘cut.’”
And: “After about five minutes of conversation he’s just a regular 14-year-old like the rest of us. He’s a funny dude.”
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But what about that Leo DiCaprio Viking movie he’s been trying to make -- the movie Leo supposedly dropped out of after Gibson's meltdown?
Gibson and Braveheart scripter Randall Wallace recently completed and turned in a third draft of the Viking movie that was once set to star Leonardo DiCaprio. “It’s phenomenal. I can’t wait to get my claws on it.”
But while the Get the Gringo press notes still make reference to DiCaprio’s involvement, Gibson conspicuously avoided any mention of his one-time star. “There are a lot of faces and people going through my mind that may or may not be available,” he said of possible replacements. “But I’m not averse to finding other [unknown] people, too. It’s about who’s right for the part.”
Also mysterious: Gibson says the plan is to make his Viking movie in English… “but it’s not going to be the kind of English that you’re used to.”
That said, the project is still in its early stages. “We just finished it literally and handed it over to some guys that are looking at it. I don’t even know if I’ve got a greenie yet.”
Get the Gringo debuts on Direct TV on May 1.