How I Spent My Summer Vacation didn’t get a theatrical release in the US, instead heading straight towards the relative sales Siberia of video-on-demand. Given that it stars Mel Gibson as a duplicitous, violent and foul-mouthed criminal, you’d forgive distributors for thinking that Americans mightn’t have come a-flocking.
But ironically it’s through embracing his dark side (minus the anti-Semetic stuff) that Gibson’s self-penned action comedy proves he still has much to offer. From the opening shots of a wild, dust-covered car chase that sees a clown-attired thief Driver (Gibson) race cops across a Mexican desert, the black humour of this 1970s-style action film is clear. And things get only more surreal as Driver is thrown into the hedonistic Mexican prison El Pueblito; a sweaty and crowded compound where casinos, brothels and heroin-dispensing ‘Crack Shacks’ keep the armed inmates entertained. As escape-hungry Driver cons his way through the dog-eat-dog world, violence and humour collide to create a tornado of focus-free, Tarantino-lite action.
Combining the brutal with the bizarre, and overlaying stylised fight scenes with wry (if indulgent) narration from Gibson, Vacation is filled with entertaining action, and the kind of deadpan one-liners that once earned him huge popularity in the Lethal Weapon franchise. Sweaty, suspicious and smart-assed, the role of Driver requires an actor who’s comfortable remaining on-edge; a talent Gibson unsurprisingly excels at.
But the real star of the film in El Pueblito. Benoit Debie’s cinematography brilliantly evokes every seedy, grimy and pungent detail of the cesspit cellblock ecosystem, with the smell of cigarette smoke and tequila practically oozing from every shot.
If only the plot were so well realised. A predictable romance, obvious twists and a severe lack of focus seriously let the movie down, but for a film starring one of Hollywood’s Most Hated, there’s much to like.