Get the Gringo

Get the Gringo (also known as How I Spent My Summer Vacation) is a 2012 American action film directed by Adrian Grunberg, produced, co-written by and starring Mel Gibson. Plot The film opens with a getaway driver and his wounded accomplice dressed as clowns fleeing from American Border Patrol toward the Mexican border. The driver crashes through the border fence, whereupon he is arrested by corrupt Mexican police officers Vasquez and Romero. When they find over $2 million in the back seat of the car, they imprison him in El Pueblito prison under false charges, keep the cash for themselves, and cremate his dead accomplice. As one of the only Americans incarcerated there, the driver becomes known as "the Gringo". El Pueblito proves surprising, operating more like a small ghetto than a prison. The Gringo quickly manages to work out the prison's criminal hierarchy and engages in petty thefts and robberies from some of the prison's less reputable businesses. One of these thefts is witnessed by an unnamed kid (Kevin Balmore) who is living with his incarcerated mother and is protected by the prison's criminals. Curious, the Gringo presses him to explain why the criminals protect him, but the Kid refuses. Later, the Gringo stops the Kid from an ill-fated assassination attempt on Javi, leader of the crime family that runs El Pueblito. After an argument, he learns why the Kid is protected: Javi has a failing liver, and the Kid is the only viable match; Javi has already killed the Kid's father and harvested his liver. The Gringo vows to stop the transplant from happening and to help kill Javi. Meanwhile, the Gringo attracts the attention of a United States Consulate employee, who easily identifies him as a career criminal. Unconcerned, the Gringo and the Kid work towards bringing down Javi, and the Gringo grows closer to the Kid's mother.