'Gringo', the John McAcfee doc, is one of the craziest movies ever

Sometimes you stumble on a movie, that ostensibly looks like nothing special that kind of blows your mind. Not since Cocaine Cowboys (parts one and two) have I has such a jaw-dropping watch of documentary as I did when I watch the Showtime documentary Gringo: The Dangerous Life of John McAfee.

Nanette Burstein

The cover looked like a cheap Dateline knock-off and initially the style of the doc (the director, Nanette Burstein, inserts herself into the narrative early and often) seemed almost amateurish, but as this crazy story (whose accuracy I can neither confirm nor deny) unfolds it just gets better and better, wildly entertaining, disturbing and weirdly profound.

The film opens and closes with some remarkable police stop footage (the found footage and photos throughout the film, as well as the interviews, is astounding) of McAfee displaying many of the characteristics that the movie solidifies as textbook for him -- he's reckless, egotistical, brash, pretty savvy and smart, but ultimately creepy as hell.

McAfee made his early fortune by being brilliant enough to take on computer viruses before it was cool. He then had the cockamamie idea to move to the impoverished (and apparently quite lawless) Central American country Belize where he created a Kurtz-like, Heart of Darkness-style fiefdom complete with an armed guards, a harem of underage 'girlfriends' (who he enticed to shit in his mouth for sexual kicks...yes, you read that right) and control over the local gangs as well as the police department.

In all honesty, there could be several narrative film culled out of this story -- even McAfee's early days in the computer security business alone have enough satisfying twists and turns that it could be a terrific movie in its own right.

But the fearless Burstein is not interested in making a light, frothy biopic of an eccentric rabble-rouser, instead she actively seeks to expose McAfee as a truly sick and dangerous individual, who may be directly or indirectly responsible for a couple death and a sexual assault.

It's pretty incendiary stuff -- but it's also bleakly funny, since in a twist fit for Donald Trump, McAfee somehow manages to evade criminal prosecution, run a nearly successful campaign for the Libertarian 2016 presidential nomination and revive his business career, all while leaving a trail of terrifying Belize gangsters in his wake who seemed more afraid of him than anything else.

It's a slyly remarkable little film -- about someone who should be a source of fascination for a lot of folks, especially post-Trump, but who has managed to stay just enough on the periphery of the news cycle as to not attract too much attention.

I had a sense that McAfee was an eccentric, who might had some run ins with the law, but nothing really prepared me for what this films brings to the fore -- with the caveat of course that he has vehemently questioned the movie's accuracy and veracity.

Still, it's a hell of a production, with some impressive interviews from a wide array of colorful characters who crossed McAfee's path in both Belize and back here in the states. I'm honestly still reeling from it -- I'll never look at hammocks the same way again -- I think it's one of the craziest movies I've ever seen.