Movie Crush Monday:Little C and The Mexican

Happy Monday, dear readers. Last week CT too us through the magical world of The Majestic. I couldn't make any connections that were nearly as magical so I'm going a different direction. I'm following Bob Balaban from the majestic to The Mexican.

Fun story, when I was 11 my parents expressly forbade me from seeing this movie because of its R rating. There was a fight with tears and they "put their foot down." Little C was forced to wait a whole year till it was out on video (yes video) and I could watch it late night at a sleep over like every other R rated film I saw in Jr. High. Unlike most of those films though, this one didn't disappoint. 

The premise of the movie is that Brad Pitt is a bad amateur criminal who gets sent by his bosses down to Mexico to collect a gun with a checkered backstory. Julia Roberts plays his girlfriend who is kidnapped by James Gandolfini. From there, of course. everything goes sideways and they end up on all these misadventures. 

The whole movie is hysterical. Jerry and Sam's relationship is chronically dysfunctional, so even as he is trying to get the gun or she is trying to deal with being a hostage they figure out ways to bicker and fight. They're two characters who really love each other but don't actually have any idea of how to make a relationship work. 

The late great James Gandolfini really makes this movie. His character is part hitman, part babysitter, and pure talent. From a role that could have been silly or over the top, he managed to create a character that feels complete. And talks about love and relationships with the same passion that he talks about guns. He's also one of the first gay characters I can remember in a movie that wasn't some form of stereotype. He was a gun toting psychopath and a reluctant bodyguard things that were rarely associated with being gay in films and television. Since 15 years after this film was released, we are still fighting to include characters like this I love that not only does this character exist, but he was played by one of Hollywood's all time tough guys. 

Happy Watching,

Little C