A Night in Old Mexico

A Night in Old Mexico

Red Bovie (Robert Duvall) is a grumpy old man who is estranged from his son. A developer in Texas wants to build “ranchettes” on the old family ranch, and Red has been given notice to move out of his house. Bitter, rude and irascible it’s one of those Robert Duvall performances where you really wouldn’t want to be in the same room with him if he weren’t played by Robert Duvall “A Night in Old Mexico,” directed by Emilio Aragon and written by “Lonesome Dove” writer Bill Wittliff, is tough going.

Duvall is one of our greatest actors, and he commands the screen even in the smallest moments: the little laughs to himself, the murmured asides, the squinting of his eyes as he sizes up a situation. He’s riveting. But to what end? The film is cliched and phony, the coincidences defy belief, and the human relationships come from a very tired playbook. Duvall can justify it all he’s that kind of actor but “A Night in Old Mexico” hasn’t done enough work to earn a story worthy of his talents. Many times during this movie, he’s acting all alone up there.

“A Night in Old Mexico” tells the story of Red Bovie’s last hurrah in Mexico. Having fled his new digs at a depressing desert trailer park whose residents are neither mobile nor homes dragging along with him Gally (Jeremy Irvine), his city-boy grandson who shows up unannounced just as Red is being evicted from his home.

Red wants to go to Mexico, get drunk and find a woman for the night. The guy still has some kick left in him! Along their journey they pick up two guys who (conveniently) have just double crossed a Mexican gangster and are carrying a bag of money. Eventually Red kicks them out of the car, but they leave the bag behind.

Red walks through the crowded streets of Mexico with a spring in his step, girl-watching and saying hello to everyone, with Gally being prudish and judgmental at his side, exclaiming in horror at one point, “This is a house of prostitution!”

Jeremy Irvine plays Gally as an actor who is in over his head. His reactions to Duvall range from “annoyed” to “a little more annoyed” to “really super annoyed.” The emotional journey of the grandson who wants to get back in touch with his country roots and know his grandfather certainly exists within Wittliff’s script, but Irvine plays it on a skin deep level.

He cannot match Duvall blow for blow, and during some of the larger confrontation scenes you can almost see him flailing around for something to grab onto. You hear that great actors have been known to lift less experienced actors up to their level just by sheer force of talent that has yet to happen here for Irvine. He is strictly one note.

The money has been stolen from Red and Gally? That is what they have to deal with, among many other problems. While on their way, they meet a stripper named Patty Wafers (Angie Cepeda). This tough girl likes Red because he dances with her and makes her laugh. It is amazing how Cepeda pulls it off. She tells Gally that Red “saw me for me” later on in the film even though that’s not at all what we see.

To every other guy in the joint, Red was leering at her just like any other guy would do. Except he’s Robert Duvall, you know? “A Night in Old Mexico” loves Duvall so much that it doesn’t bother making us believe any of this stuff.

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