Film

The Mexican

A mid-level mob bagman is caught between his girlfriend's ultimatum and his boss's order to retrieve a legendary pistol from Mexico. Tonally adventurous, part heist comedy and part relationship drama, it wants to be a grown-up romantic comedy with action beats. For viewers who like their star power undiluted and don't mind a film that can't quite decide what it wants to be.

TMDb rating3.0

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy a scrappy, shaggy caper where the jokes come from characters bickering their way through a bad plan, with Pitt and Roberts trading barbs and Gandolfini's gruff menace adding a jolt of unpredictability.

Skip it if you want a tightly plotted thriller, since this one wanders on purpose and its romantic and crime threads sometimes pull against each other rather than locking together.

What it asks of you: Settle in for just over two hours of loose, meandering travel, with long stretches of talk and detours before the pace picks up, so patience helps as much as attention.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Ocean's Eleven2001

Released the same year, this heist comedy nails the tone The Mexican reaches for: smart, stylish, and propulsive. It proves the formula works when everything clicks. A masterclass in entertaining ensemble filmmaking.

But If you want character depth over mechanics, you'll find it's mostly beautiful people executing a plan. The emotional stakes are deliberately light.

Ocean's Eleven poster

Mr. & Mrs. Smith2005

Another attempt to marry action with romantic tension through movie stars. It's unashamed about being a delivery system for chemistry and explosions, with better chemistry than most films manage.

But The plot is genuinely thin, and it knows this. If you need narrative substance, you won't find much here either.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith poster

Romancing the Stone1984

The spiritual ancestor of this whole category: action, romance, comedy, and travel all woven together without apology. Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas have fun with it, and so does the film.

But It's very '80s in pacing and sensibility. If that decade's action films feel slow to you now, this will too.

Romancing the Stone poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Mexican

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang2005

Both are romantic comedies reluctantly hosting action sequences, but this one knows it's funny about that contradiction and weaponizes it.

Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer in a Los Angeles noir about an actor pulled into crime. It's got the romantic tension, the comedy, the action, and the Mexico connection in reverse—but it's funny about its own construction in ways The Mexican isn't. Wildly entertaining and smart at once.

But It's aggressively Los Angeles and aggressively clever. If the self-aware tone annoys you, there's no escape from it here.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang poster
More like this (8)

True Romance1993

A lovers-on-the-run film with Tarantino's script crackling underneath. It treats the relationship as genuinely central while violence erupts around it. Urgent and alive.

But It's violent in ways that earned an R rating and hasn't aged into gentleness. The tonal shifts are jarring if you're not ready for them.

True Romance poster

Midnight Run1988

Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin in a buddy film about obligation and duty. It has a similar DNA of action comedy wrapped around character relationship, and it understands both parts.

But It's deliberately leisurely in places. Modern viewers often find '80s pacing a slog, even when it's intentional.

Midnight Run poster

Knight and Day2010

Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz attempt the same balancing act: globe-hopping action meets romantic spark. At least it commits to the absurdity and doesn't apologize for the fun.

But The plot holes are tremendous and visible from space. You have to actively enjoy that kind of movie-movie logic.

Knight and Day poster

RED2010

Retired action stars, charming banter, an actual plot that supports character interaction. Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, and Morgan Freeman clearly enjoy working together, and it shows.

But It's fundamentally a comfort film. If you're seeking edge or innovation, you won't find it here.

RED poster

The Whole Nine Yards2000

Bruce Willis as a hitman and Matthew Perry as the nervous guy next door. It's lightweight crime comedy that knows its lane and stays in it with wit and charm.

But It's aggressively from the year 2000. The comedy sensibility feels dated, and not in a good way.

The Whole Nine Yards poster

Bullet to the Head2012

Sylvester Stallone and Sung Kang in a straightforward action movie that understands what it is: old-school muscular fun without pretense. No apologies, just bullets and banter.

But It's essentially a direct-to-streaming movie that got a theatrical release. The craft level shows it, and not flatteringly.

Bullet to the Head poster

Burn After Reading2008

Both films feature mid-level men pulled into situations above their pay grade, but this one finds tragedy in that setup instead of romance.

The Coen Brothers make a crime caper where nothing matters and everything goes wrong in hilarious ways. Brad Pitt is in this too, playing a gym employee, and it's a complete inversion of his Mexican role. Devastatingly funny.

But The nihilism is complete. If you need to feel like the story matters, this will frustrate you on purpose.

Burn After Reading poster

Delicatessen1991

Both films insist on romantic connection as the emotional core while surrounding it with chaos and crime—but this one takes the absurdity seriously instead of winking at it.

A French film about a romance blooming in a dystopian apartment building run by cannibals. It's a rom-com with the stakes and weirdness cranked to maximum. Genuinely romantic despite being grotesque, visually inventive, and darkly hilarious.

But It's in French with subtitles, it's genuinely disgusting at times, and it's a full-commitment mood piece. If you want something normative, this isn't it.

Delicatessen poster

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Recommended by

Narco Cultura, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Bandidas