American schoolteacher Harriet Winslow (Jane Fonda) finds herself caught up in the Mexican revolution when the Federals set a trap for the revolutionaries. The revolutionaries set their own trap by smuggling weapons in her luggage. Meanwhile, author Ambrose "Old Gringo/bitter" Bierce (Gregory Peck) is looking to join Pancho Villa and befriends one of his military leaders, Gen. Arroyo (Jimmy Smits).
Jane Fonda seems to be the protagonist in this one and it's not a good thing. I don't care for her character both in writing and in acting. I also don't care for Jimmy Smits' erratic character. Their romance is awkward and it goes into bad melodrama. It's trying to say something about the Mexican identity but it's completely lost in this mess. Gregory Peck could be a better protagonist but even his character has some weird moments. There is a good movie somewhere in here. It seems to be based on an award winning novel which only adds to the disappointment. Like the character himself, the movie gets stuck and does not recover.
Jane Fonda seems to be the protagonist in this one and it's not a good thing. I don't care for her character both in writing and in acting. I also don't care for Jimmy Smits' erratic character. Their romance is awkward and it goes into bad melodrama. It's trying to say something about the Mexican identity but it's completely lost in this mess. Gregory Peck could be a better protagonist but even his character has some weird moments. There is a good movie somewhere in here. It seems to be based on an award winning novel which only adds to the disappointment. Like the character himself, the movie gets stuck and does not recover.