Synopsis

Small-time mob fixer Jerry Welbach is sent to Mexico to retrieve an antique pistol known as "The Mexican," his final chance to settle a debt and leave crime behind. When his girlfriend Samantha heads to Las Vegas instead, she is kidnapped by a hit man assigned to pressure Jerry. Their separate journeys become entangled through the gun's strange and bloody history.

Factoids & Trivia

• The screenplay was originally intended as a smaller independent production. Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt had been looking for a project to make together, and both accepted substantially reduced salaries to join the film.

• Although the movie was marketed around the pairing of Roberts and Pitt, the two characters share relatively little screen time. The parallel structure instead gives much of the film to the separate journeys of Jerry and Samantha.

• Julia Roberts suggested James Gandolfini for the role of Leroy. His performance became one of the film's most distinctive elements, particularly in the scenes that develop the unexpected friendship between Leroy and Samantha.

• The film repeatedly interrupts its contemporary crime story with different versions of the antique pistol's legend. These stylized flashbacks help turn the gun into a character-like presence rather than merely a plot device.

• Location filming took place in Real de Catorce and elsewhere in Mexico, as well as in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. The production was filmed during the spring and summer of 2000.

• Roberts met cinematographer Daniel Moder while working on the film. They married in 2002.

• Gandolfini reportedly lost about 35 pounds for the role. He then had to regain the weight before returning to work on the next season of The Sopranos.