Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia

First let me start off by saying that I didn’t know which Category to put this movie in because it has a little bit of everything from Horror, Action, Drama, Romance, and even some Comedy. after repeat viewings I honestly don’t think you can put this movie in any one of those category because its a class on to its own.

Bring me the head of Alfredo Garcia Is probably one of the best little unknown films of all time.

The plot is about a man Alfredo Garcia(who is never seen alive or on screen at all in the movie) his head is wanted by El Jefe(Emilio Fernandez) who’s daughter has had a baby and Alfredo is the father, El Jefe summons his goons and tell them to “Bring me the head of Alfredo Garcia” for a $1 million reward, two of the men(Gig Young and Robert Webber) finds Ex Army/Current Piano playing Bartender Benny(Warren Oates) and hires him to find Alfredo for less than the $1 million reward, Benny gets his girlfriend and one time love of Alfredo to track him down…

This movie has become one of my favorite Sam Peckinpah films and All time favorite films, simply because of Warren Oates performance, He plays the character of Benny to perfection in what is one of his rare leading man roles, now for anybody who doesn’t know the Benny character was modeled after Director Sam Peckinpah himself which kind of lets you know what kind of person Sam Peckinpah was which is a little scary, but brilliant at the same time. and worthy of more praise then he got.

Isela Vega is good in support to Oates wild man as she is the moral compass of the entire film and of Benny himself. for me one of the standout scenes in the movie comes with her and Kris Kristofferson in a glorified cameo as a Rapist Biker, the surrealism of the back and forth between victim and predator takes on a weird twist that you just have to see to fully understand it.

The two men that hire Benny (Gig Young and Robert Webber) are probably two of the most interesting characters in any movie because there seems to be a underlying to their relationship that’s not actually mentioned but you can kind of make out from more then one viewing and also a interesting move in any other movie it would be a little weird, but in a movie where everything is a little left of center its completely normal.

I felt Emilio Fernandez as El Jefe is underused this time around but still playing a similar character to the one that he did in The Wild Bunch, but here he is a little bit more reserved than his previous role for Peckinpah.

Now for some this movie will be a little tough to get through because its slow in parts in the beginning, but if you can hang in there, what you may think is a slow and lacking film will pay off for you in the end namely the final 30 minutes or so where all hell breaks loose with some great shootouts that Peckinpah is known for in most of his movies, so if you like Road movies, 70s sleazy action/crime, Sam Peckinpah and Warren Oates. I highly recommend seeing this little known or completely forgotten gem of a film.