A wacky protagonist paves the way for a fun trip to the movies.

Gringo revolves around the life of Harold, played by David Oyelowo, a middle-class American who always tries to do the right thing. His supervisors at work, Richard, and Elaine, played by Joel Edgerton and Charlize Theron, force him to go to Mexico for business. While there, Harold accidentally gets involved with some criminals and goes through a sequence of mishaps, leading to a reevaluation of his life.

This movie is consistently funny and never has a dull moment. Oyelowo’s performance as Harold is excellent. He keeps you laughing throughout the entire movie ​but still manages to make you ​care for him and root for him to come out on top. It is amusing to watch Harold, who has ignorance of evil, be himself and do the right thing while dealing with hardened​ criminals. As always, Theron gives a great performance and deeply elevates her character past the pages of the script.

Despite the humor and strong performances, this film is a bit uneven, specifically in tone. One moment the film would try and be dramatic but some humor mixed in at the wrong times takes away from the drama. The involvement of the character named Sunny, played by Amanda Seyfried, was a weak part of the film. Although she gives a fine performance, her character seems forced into the film with no real purpose. You could take her character out and the film would neither get worse nor better. I predict that in a year or two, I will forget she was even in the film. However, none of this takes away from the entertainment value of this film. One specific scene with Harold was actually one of the funniest scenes I had seen in a movie in a long time. Director Nash Edgerton does a good job at developing a protagonist the audience can connect with and root for. As a whole, this film is filled with great performances and wacky situations make for a very enjoyable experience.

6/10