Casa de mi Padre

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.

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.

"Casa de mi Padre" is a bizarre experiment--the sort of picture that shows that Will Ferrell has made a LOT of money over the years and now he just wants to branch out and have some fun. After all, why else would he agree to star in a Spanish-language comedy?! And, for the most part, the films is played VERY seriously while insanely stupid things happen all around him. It's very surreal and very odd--and the sort of experiment many will find baffling and unfunny. I liked it...but I certainly wouldn't like a steady diet of such films. My attitude is that this is one worth seeing...once.

This film is a cheesy yet stylish send-up of Mexican films. Compared to most Americans, I've seen a ton--but my experience with Mexican films is limited--with mostly el Santo and the Aztec Mummy films of the 50s, 60s and 70s. At times, it looks a bit like a combination of a Sam Peckinpah film, a VERY stylish commercial for cologne and a cheesy mess--complete with VERY unrealistic backgrounds, horses and the Jaguar King--all things you really have to see for yourself! It also is the only film I know of where there is an apology in the middle of the movie--by the second assistant director! Overall, it's VERY dry, very bizarre and a bit funny. But, as I said before, it's certainly NOT the sort of joke most will enjoy--it takes a special person to appreciate this ultra-strange film.

By the way, be sure to watch the making of featurette on the DVD--it makes the movie a lot more interesting to watch.

After reading some of these reviews, I had to comment.

I don't understand that some of you, (especially those who write some clever reviews), missed the "greatness" in this movie.

This film is based on clichés and is predictable. THIS FILM IS NOT MEANT TO BE AS A "laugh out loud" - COMEDY!

It is the way Ferrel portraits his character with HIS kind of humor. Mixed with typical buildups and "one-take" shots, seen in Mexican movies and Spanish series... The facial expressions and timing makes this film.

You don't have to like it, but don't say it is bad... it's a matter of taste.

Casa de mi Padre is not for everyone. There is a very limited audience for this movie, such as Spanish speaking folk, Will Ferrell fans. But the main one I think is the telenovela watching audience.

Casa de mi Padre is meant to poke fun at Mexican telenovelas, and it pretty much succeeded. The exaggerated acting, the exaggerated drama, weddings getting shot up, the hilarious mistakes that telenovelas usually do and the not so great pacing. This movie has it all, and it manages to exaggerate even MORE on top of that. Typical Ferrell style.

The film also has a great Hispanic cast to boot. Diego Luna, Pedro Armendariz, Gael Garcia, Genesis Rodriguez and more. And of course, Will Ferrell speaking Spanish the whole film. He does an excellent job at it.

All in all this movie is hilarious. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and if you liked what you read just now you will most likely enjoy it too.