Writer-director (and several other hyphenates) Robert Rodriguez brings some of his "Spy Kids" playfulness to the R-rated "Once Upon a Time in Mexico." Affectionately conceived, imaginatively staged and highly entertaining, the new pic is the concluding chapter of the "El Mariachi" trilogy, the spaghetti-Western homage starring Antonio Banderas as the gun- and guitar-toting "man with no name." The plot proves so complicated and confusing that viewers may need to see the film a second time to sort out all the crosses, double-crosses and even identities, which twist the story into a jumbo-sized pretzel -- only to miraculously, Houdini-style, unravel and make perfect sense.

Subscribe to the Hollywood Reporter and see the entertainment industry from its best angle: the inside looking out. Complete access to real-time news and exclusive analysis that goes behind the scenes from film to television, home video to digital media.

   Subscribe now.