Film footage is often longer in production than in a cinema because cuts have been made to bing the total closer to the conventional ninety minutes. When the editing of action films is extensive, however, the plot suffers from mortal wounds, not just surgical cuts. Thus, Once upon a Time in México, directed by Robert Rodriguez, suffers from the fate of maximizing dead bodies and minimizing plot coherence if ever there was any. If we are to believe the story, General Marquez (played by Gerardo Virgil) plans to assassinate Mexican President Pedro Armendáriz (played by Pedro Armendáriz, Jr.) and ride to power in a coup that will be launched in the unlikely backwater of Culiacán (though the filming locations are Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, and Querétaro). Quirky CIA operative Sands (played by Johnny Depp) patiently awaits the coup so that an operative of his choice will assassinate Marquez. His preferred operative is El Mariachi (played by Antonio Banderas), now featured for the third time in a Rodriquez film, who has a score to settle with Marquez for killing his wife and daughter. Meanwhile, the Mexican federal police are hot on the trail of the Barrillo drug cartel, which operates with impunity thanks to General Marquez. Those in the Federales who are not corrupt want to put Barrillo (played by Willem Dafoe) out of business with the aid of FBI agents led by Special Agent Ajedrez (played by Eva Mendes). Doublecrosses abound, everyone seems to get caught in crossfire, and there are no real heroes other than a young boy who provides the eyes for Sands after his eyes are gouged out. A lot of cash fills the air at the end of the film, enabling ordinary Mexicans to scramble for their pay as extras, but too late for intelligent filmviewers to ask for their money back. MH