How I Spent my Summer Vacation

Viewer Rating:Eoghan Bolger has rated How I Spent my Summer Vacation rating: 3 Star

How I spent my summer vacation


How I spent my summer vacation is an action comedy film starring Mel Gibson and Dean Norris, it is one hour thirty five minutes long and sees Gibson as a criminal arrested for getting on the wrong side of the Mexican mafia, in prison he comes into contact with a boy that a mafia leader is after. Along with the boy he begins to learn how to survive in the prison environment. It is directed by Adrian Gunberg.

This was a very mixed affair of a film, on one hand its got a script that lends itself well to the humour, which ranges from usually mildly amusing, to laugh out loud through the narrative, this contributes nicely to the quirky, smart ass leas Gibson is playing.
Gibson's criminal isn't all that's quirky about this movie, theres an offbeat, odd plot in there too and the action does what it needs to do, it's a fun hour and a half or so mostly.
Gibson can't carry the whole film though and the comedy and serious side don't mesh all that great from time to time and when it feels the gap between the fights are too long you know you've got problems. Oddball storylines are fine but the flow is sometimes questionable and the ending feels muddled. Honestly your better off not paying a whole lot of attention to the writing, theres enough action here and it usually delivers but it's the comedy here that comes out strongest, thanks to Gibson's acting and character. Though in general he's the only big reason to stick out the film's run, he's sharply written but the rest of the movie not so much.
I could have done without seeing this and would recommend borrowing or renting it when the dvd comes out over here.
In the end it's a decent, average action movie that could have been better.

Verdict: ***

Review published on the 13 May 2012 23:46