Machete

**1/2 – I’m not fond of Texas. I’m not fond of Texans, either. It’s always very dry and hot there, and it seems like the kind of place where you always have to carry around a rag or towel or something with you to wipe off the sweat and grease and grime that builds up because of the hot, dry air and constant dust and oil field fumes. Maybe that’s an unfair assessment, but if it is, than the 2010 Robert Rodriguez film “Machete” plays right into it, because it portrays a southwestern Texas that is really hot and dry and everyone there is sweaty and covered in grime. This movie is a full-length version of one of the trailers that played before 2007’s “Grindhouse” and is very much in the style of the two main portions of that movie, with the 1970’s exploitation type of story, style and characters. Much like Texas and Texans, I am not particularly fond of that genre. It is often (almost always) very short on story, unrelentingly cruel and violent and chock full of some of the more offensive kinds of stereotypes around. For being of that ilk, though, “Machete” far exceeds any actual exploitation film that you are likely to ever see in production value and effects, which makes this actually watchable for the most part despite the cheese factor, unappealing characters and non-sensical story that quite often seems to jump all over the place without exposition.