Casa de mi Padre

I have nothing but respect when actors or filmmakers take risks, and this was a risk on Will Ferrell's part. Ferrell is already a hit-or-miss comic actor, with a few great movies under his belt and just as many forgettable. For every ANCHORMAN there's a LAND OF THE LOST. I'm not the biggest fan of his movies but when's he good, he's good. I was happy to see Ferrell had the nerve to release a small movie, low budget with deliberately poor production value, and completely in Spanish. In a time when so many American moviegoers refuse to sit through a movie they'll need to "read", you've got to love what you do to go against the grain with a film like CASA DE MI PADRE. Good for Ferrell and his film buddies for doing the movie, and the best part is…I actually enjoyed it. Well, not at first. The movie is done in the style of Mexican/Spanish telenovelas. It's a feature length soap opera/Spanish western, and I know that alone will turn some people off. It is the tale of Armando Alvarez (Ferrell), a simple ranchero working on his father's land when his beloved brother Raul makes a triumphant return to their homestead with exciting news. Raul (Diego Luna) is to be married to the beautiful Sonia (Genesis Rodriguez) and he has plans to revive his father's dying ranch. But with the dangerous drug lord La Onza (Gael Garcia Bernal) moving in on their land, Armando discovers that his brother might not be as noble as he believed.

This movie needed an extra viewing to really grow on me. I wasn't impressed the first time, believing it to be a one note joke dragged out to feature length (Will Ferrell speaking Spanish…poorly. I can hardly contain my laughter.) But, really, there is a lot of hilarious stuff here. It's just subtler than I was expecting. The best bits are a lot of the little things. Sure, there're some blatantly funny parts, especially with the deliberate poor production value. Painted backdrops, obvious sets, obvious props, rear projection, etc. But then there are the little things. Raul never without a cigarette and drink in his hands, even in the midst of a violent gun battle. Armando can't roll a cigarette to save his life (although the commentary with Ferrell reveals that he can, in fact, roll a cigarette…just not when he's trying to remember his lines in another language). The melodrama, the cheesy line delivery…it's great. The opening of the movie sets the tone perfectly: Ferrell in a field with his fellow rancheros and a herd of cattle. Ferrell stoically dismounts from his horse and approaches a small brown calf…the scene cuts to a new angle as he bends down to pick it up and he rises with a blatantly fake black calf as he stares dramatically into the sun. Boom…cut to the trippy, James Bond-ish opening titles with none other than Christina Aguilera singing. It didn't win me over at first, but I love it now.

I have to give Ferrell credit: there are times when he almost sounds fluent in his Spanish. I love his musical numbers. He's a perfect balance of serious and absurd, though I hate to say we're treated to an abundance of Ferrell butt shots. I could've done without that. The rest of the cast is even better. Diego Luna is solid gold as Raul with swagger and confidence, and Genesis Rodriguez (an actress with an actual history in Spanish soap operas) is both amazingly beautiful and the only one giving her role an honest try. She gives the movie it's biggest dose of dramatic performing, taking her role 100% serious amongst all of the bizarre. And then there's Gael Garcia Bernal….this dude is hilarious. Easily the funniest part of the movie in my opinion. Again, he's not outright goofball in his performance as the movie's villain, La Onza. It's the little quirks here and there that he tosses in. He had me laughing harder than anything else at times. All the more reason it's a shame that a lot of people will probably skip this movie because of it's strange premise and it's use of Spanish with English subtitles. You don't have to be familiar with telenovelas to enjoy it; I certainly wasn't. A passing familiarity with them and an open mind is enough to enjoy CASA DE MI PADRE, one of Ferrell's better films.

This sounded like a weird and yet also very interesting project. A Will Ferrell comedy that was different from most of his other work, completely in Spanish and set in Mexico. But let me just say that the idea and concept of this movie sounded better and more interesting than the eventual movie was to watch.

Comedy-wise the movie isn't all that clever or funny to watch. It's mostly recycling the same stuff, over and over again, throughout the entire movie. It's a bit disappointing that this movie wasn't being a big more creative with its comedy at times.

But I have a feeling that this movie is being very referential to Mexican cinema and I have seen basically very little of those movies, so most of the stuff is going over my head. If you're into Mexican cinema, I'm sure this movie would be a far more hilarious one for you to watch. It will probably also help you to understand certain storytelling aspects and techniques behind the movie better than I did.

But still, the movie could had been a real better one for everybody to watch, if it had a more tight script in it. The story in this movie really isn't strong enough and it doesn't get you involved with any of its characters or their story lines.

I still really respect this movie for being different. It still works in some ways and it obviously is also a refreshing one. I was also definitely impressed with Will Ferrell in a Spanish talking role. He did a real great job with it and further more was also holding back a bit more with his usual comical routines, that are starting to annoy more and more people now days.

But the movie has some more great acting and actors in it, mostly REAL Mexican ones. I wish I could see Diego Luna in more big movies, since I have always liked this guy and his acting. He also probably was the best thing about this movie. Also Gael García Bernal plays a really good role in this movie. It actually also made me wonder if I would had perhaps liked this movie better if it got done more as a straight-forward action-drama. It would had suited the actors and its story perhaps a tad bit better all and I do believe it would had made the movie a more compelling one to watch.

An interesting experiment that is not a failure but nothing too impressive or innovative either.

6/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

I am a fan of spoof movies like Mel Brooks, Naked Gun, Loaded Weapon, Airplane 1&2, Top Secret, Hot Shots 1&2, Mafia and Scary Movie 3&4 so I was not phased at all by this movie. Casa de mi padre is a spoof of soap operas, the ones in Latin America in particular, and westerns. The movie does ridiculous stuff such as obvious fake backgrounds, revealing the camera crew in reflections and obviously fake animals in the scenery.

Making Will Ferrell the lead works since he specializes in comedy and is not a native Spanish speaker which makes it funny. He spoke very well, and I understood everything so it was not annoying. He was fortunate to be surrounded by native speakers to coach him and have actors from Mexico that could teach him Mexican slang since Will Ferrell's character is from Mexico.

Gael García Bernal was a total scene stealer. I know him for only his serious roles in Amores Perros and The Motorcycle Diaries so it was odd seeing him be so funny.

Some of the silliness dragged on a bit, and I wanted to fast forward. The joke was delivered, I enjoyed it but please not stretch it out to a whole minute.

This is a spoof and in Spanish and has Will Ferrell. I enjoy all 3 so it was a lot of fun for myself, but I understand why it is limited release.

Casa de Mi Padre is, how do you say, more entertaining than I thought it was going to be. This telenovela parody pokes fun at number of different stereotypes, and manages to play it straight while still mocking the genre. It's an interesting experiment in comedy.

Scheming on a way to save their father's ranch, the Alvarez brothers find themselves in a war with Mexico's most feared drug lord.

First of all, proper credit must be given to Will Ferrell. Love him, hate him or somewhere in between, he gave this role his all. Despite knowing it would not be his biggest hit, he plunged in and actually learned to speak Spanish for the part (or at least enough to fake it).

There is plenty of good humor here, from the white mountain lion to the DEA agent played by Nick Offerman (who is awesome just by being on screen), and we must not forget the butt-centric romance scene. Not sure what was up with that, but well played.

And not only is this a good comedy, it is a good story, too. Maybe it is stereotypical to have a story about Mexican drug dealers and American drug agents... maybe that gives the wrong impression of Mexico. But it makes for an interesting conflict.