Film
footage is often longer in production than in a cinema
because cuts have been made to bring the total closer to
the conventional ninety minutes. When the editing of action
films is extensive, however, the plot suffers from mortal
wounds, not just surgical cuts. Thus, Once
upon a Time in México, directed by Robert Rodriguez, suffers
from the fate of maximizing dead bodies and minimizing
plot coherence if ever there was any. If we are to believe
the story, General Marquez (played by Gerardo Virgil) plans
to assassinate Mexican President Pedro Armendáriz
(played by Pedro Armendáriz, Jr.) and ride to power
in a coup that will be launched in the unlikely backwater
of Culiacán (though the filming locations are Guanajuato,
San Miguel de Allende, and Querétaro). Quirky CIA
operative Sands (played by Johnny Depp) patiently awaits
the coup so that an operative of his choice will assassinate
Marquez. His preferred operative is El Mariachi (played
by Antonio Banderas), now featured for the third time in
a Rodriquez film, who has a score to settle with Marquez
for killing his wife and daughter. Meanwhile, the Mexican
federal police are hot on the trail of the Barrillo drug
cartel, which operates with impunity thanks to General
Marquez. Those in the Federales who are not corrupt want
to put Barrillo (played by Willem Dafoe) out of business
with the aid of FBI agents led by Special Agent Ajedrez
(played by Eva Mendes). Doublecrosses abound, everyone
seems to get caught in crossfire, and there are no real
heroes other than a young boy who provides the eyes for
Sands after his eyes are gouged out. A lot of cash fills
the air at the end of the film, enabling ordinary Mexicans
to scramble for their pay as extras, but too late for intelligent
filmviewers to ask for their money back. MH
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