Last night, or was it the night before, we watched Mel Gibson’s straight-to-the-small-screen film Get the Gringo.

Co-produced and co-written by Gibson and starring him in the main role, Get the Gringo is the kind of film you ought to watch when you are already a little high.

Mel Gibson plays a bad guy, the Gringo who’s stolen money from some big time crime bosses in America and vamooses into Mexico after a hot chase by the cops.

Alas, our ‘Gringo” finds no relief in Mexico, where he’s quickly thrown into one of those notorious prisons south of the border and ‘his’ stolen millions are quickly stolen by the crooked Mexican cops.

Mexico is like India.

There’s no plumbing the depths of depravity in both countries for it runs deep, very deep.

Corruption is rampant and brutal violence an ever-present danger in the hell-hole like prison where anything can be purchased for the right price.

So brutal is the prison that the local drug lord Javi has people killed, just to have their liver transplanted into his ailing body.

Awaiting imminent murder for his liver is a 10-year-old boy (Kevin Hernandez), the son of an inmate who was also killed by Javi for his liver.

Bad Guy with a Heart

In prison, our Gringo gets pally first with the young boy and eventually with his sexy mother (Dolores Heredia).

Bad, callous, violent and merciless as our Gringo is, he’s shown to possess a vein of decency when it comes to the young boy.

I found the Mexican prison setting realistic and Gibson’s performance impressive.

The story is paper-thin and without the draw of Gibson’s star-power it’s unlikely the film would have attracted much attention.

The non-stop action, the dry humor and the tight screenplay cover up the absence of a solid story.

As the movie drew to an end, I couldn’t help thinking about how Gibson screwed up his Hollywood career with all his wild drunken antics and racist remarks.

Perhaps, that was the reason Gibson eschewed a theatrical released and took Get the Gringo direct to the small screen.

Get the Gringo is a fast-paced movie with enough stuff to keep you engrossed.

SearchIndia.com recommends Get the Gringo.

Get the Gringo is available at Blockbuster, RedBox and Netflix.