A Night In Old Mexico Review

An early draft of A Night In Old Mexico was written by Lonesome Dove scribe Bill Wittliff about 35 years ago, and for the last 25 years he had been waiting for the chance to get his film made. Under the direction of Emilio Aragon, the long wait is now over. While I’m not sure how many changes were made to that original script, it’s safe to say that the timeless story feels just as fresh today as it would’ve if it had been made in the ’80s, the ’90s, or any other decade for that matter. Red Bovie (Robert Duvall) is a rancher who’s lost everything. Years ago his wife and son ran away, and his cattle have all died. He can’t afford to keep his land either, meaning he’s lost the last thing he had to call his own. He’s planning to move off his sprawling ranch and into a tiny trailer park where he can live out the rest of his days. Things change though when his grandson Gally (Jeremy Irving), who Red has never met, shows up for a visit. When they arrive at the trailer park, Red realizes that there’s no way he can spend the rest of his life in a tin can, and in a moment of spontaneity, he speeds away. With Gally in the passenger seat, Red makes a run down to Mexico to have one last night of drinking, women and dancing. On the way, they pick up a couple of hitchhikers but then leave them at the side of the road when the strangers are disrespectful and drink too much of Red’s beer. What they don’t know though is that the hitchhikers left their bag in the car, meaning Red, his grandson, and a singer they befriend (Angie Cepeda) find themselves with a sack full of money and some tough criminals in pursuit...more