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The Mexican

Play trailer Poster for The Mexican R Released Mar 2, 2001 2h 3m Comedy Drama Adventure Play Trailer Watchlist
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54% Tomatometer 136 Reviews 44% Popcornmeter 100,000+ Ratings
Brad Pitt stars as Jerry Welbach, a reluctant bagman, who has been given two ultimatums: The first is from his mob boss to travel to Mexico and retrieve a priceless antique pistol, known as "the Mexican"... or suffer the consequences. The second is from his girlfriend Samantha (Julia Roberts) to end his association with the mob. Jerry figures alive and in trouble with Samantha is better than the more permanent alternative, so he heads south of the border.
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The Mexican

The Mexican

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Critics Consensus

Though The Mexican makes a good attempt at originality, its ponderous length makes it wear out its welcome. Also, those looking forward to seeing Roberts and Pitt paired up may end up disappointed, as they are kept apart for most of the movie.

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Critics Reviews

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Christy Lemire Associated Press The Mexican is sporadically entertaining. It works when Gandolfini is on screen; when he leaves, he takes the movie with him. Oct 25, 2018 Full Review David Ansen Newsweek Brad and Julia, of course, look great. Buy the poster; skip the movie. Mar 6, 2018 Full Review Nell Minow Common Sense Media An interesting mess for older teens and up. Rated: 3/5 Dec 28, 2010 Full Review Grant Watson Fiction Machine There is a lot of fun to be had with this film, despite it’s relatively uneven nature. Rated: 6/10 Mar 27, 2024 Full Review Yasser Medina Cinefilia As a dark comedy it has a somewhat appealing visual style, but its journey across the Mexican wasteland becomes downright dull and it falls to the ground like a stray bullet. [Full review in Spanish] Rated: 3/10 May 10, 2023 Full Review Mitchell Beaupre Paste Magazine Gene Hackman holds the responsibility of conveying the entire history of a character, the entire core of who this man is, in a single scene. He manages it without breaking a sweat. Rated: 6.5/10 Sep 22, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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John C The Mexican coasts along throwing at us double-agent/double-crossings intrigue, witty one-liners, and some evocative scenery. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 06/21/25 Full Review Daniel Z The combination of Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts was great. However Jamesn Gandolfini stole the show. Well written and executed. The scenes come at you so fast. The plot turns and twists, so much so that you keep hanging on to it. Seeing Gene Hackman at the end was a great bonus too. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 06/05/25 Full Review Blu B After 2 hours I felt like it was just a whole lot of nothing maybe 80% of the time. Especially Pitt's storyline up until he reunites with Roberts & Gandofani. It feels like nothing happens basically and is so meandering in like a Tarintino style way but it's not as good so it just feels so....nothing. Like not even terrible or anything. Everything about this as a whole is just ok middle of the road. Oddly enough the storyline of Roberts with Gandofini is the better of the two and he's the one consistent good thing in this. I honestly wish it would've been a road movie focused on those two most of the time. They have decent chemistry actually compared with Pitt where their just alright. This is a road crime movie mixed with like a Romance kind of like a True Crime sort of but not exactly. The direction is decent and I do like the lighting/color filtering. But there just isn't much going on. Like an hour 20 minutes in nothing much has happened and yet to it's credit it's not terrible just going nowhere and kind of boring at points. The whole gun plot is stupid and it either needed to just focus on refining that story or committing to Roberts. As it is, it doesn't succeed at either and for better ot worse it just leaves close to no impression on you at all. Skip This. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/06/25 Full Review iain c Superb, funny, atmospheric comedy which sees Gandolphini in top form as, what else, a gangster. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/23/25 Full Review Michael J An incredibly entertaining romp exercising the comedic chops of Pitt, Roberts, and Gandolfini. This is the type of movie that you can watch multiple times without it ever getting old. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/27/24 Full Review Sams K I just love this. Great acting by Brad Pitt, a very good screenplay. One of these days I'm going to watch this again. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/23/24 Full Review Read all reviews
The Mexican

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Cast & Crew

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Gore Verbinski

Director

Brad Pitt

Jerry Welbach

Julia Roberts

Samantha Barzel

James Gandolfini

Leroy

Bob Balaban

Nayman

J.K. Simmons

Ted

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The Mexican

Jerry (BRAD PITT) is double-crossed by a car thief (RICHARD COCA) who is also after the priceless antique pistol known as The Mexican in DreamWorks Pictures' THE MEXICAN. JAMES GANDOLFINI stars as a hit man who goes by the name of Leroy in DreamWorks Pictures' THE MEXICAN. Samantha (JULIA ROBERTS) realizes she's in danger from people who will do anything to get their hands on a priceless antique pistol known as The Mexican in DreamWorks Pictures' THE MEXICAN. Samantha (JULIA ROBERTS) begins to bond with the hit man Leroy (JAMES GANDOLFINI) who has taken her hostage in order to insure her boyfriend's return with an antique pistol known as The Mexican. BRAD PITT and JULIA ROBERTS star in DreamWorks Pictures' THE MEXICAN. Samantha (JULIA ROBERTS) is taken hostage by Leroy (JAMES GANDOLFINI) in order to insure that Jerry will return with the priceless pistol known as The Mexican in DreamWorks Pictures' THE MEXICAN. Director GORE VERBINSKI (standing center) gives some direction to stars BRAD PITT (left) and JULIA ROBERTS on the set of DreamWorks Pictures' THE MEXICAN. BRAD PITT stars as Jerry Welbach in DreamWorks Pictures' THE MEXICAN. Jerry (BRAD PITT) enjoys his new rented El Camino in DreamWorks Pictures' THE MEXICAN. BRAD PITT and JULIA ROBERTS star in DreamWorks Pictures' THE MEXICAN. View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Brad Pitt stars as Jerry Welbach, a reluctant bagman, who has been given two ultimatums: The first is from his mob boss to travel to Mexico and retrieve a priceless antique pistol, known as "the Mexican"... or suffer the consequences. The second is from his girlfriend Samantha (Julia Roberts) to end his association with the mob. Jerry figures alive and in trouble with Samantha is better than the more permanent alternative, so he heads south of the border.
Director
Gore Verbinski
Producer
Lawrence Bender, John Baldecchi
Screenwriter
J.H. Wyman
Distributor
DreamWorks SKG
Production Co
DreamWorks SKG, Pistolero Productions L.L.C., Newmarket Capital Group
Rating
R (Violence|Language)
Genre
Comedy, Drama, Adventure
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 2, 2001, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jun 15, 2011
Box Office (Gross USA)
$66.8M
Runtime
2h 3m
Sound Mix
Dolby SR, DTS, SDDS, Surround, Dolby A, Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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