Rudo e Cursi: A Vida é Uma Viagem

I saw this at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The two main characters are brothers and polar opposites in terms of the roles they have. One being fun, jokey laughable while the other is more gritty, serious and intense. Depending on who was on screen, the story weaved from pleasing comedy to suspenseful drama. The movie is based around the 2 brothers being plucked from banana plantation obscurity into footballing limelight but this is by no means a movie about football. It's more about the the brothers yearning for fame and fortune and their determination to provide better lives for their loved ones. The directors and actors were present at the screening and asked the audience to watch this "not as a foreign movie but simply as a movie." With that in mind, don't go to see this looking for strong statement about Mexico City, go and see it for the story and acting itself.

Rudo y cursi may be actually one of the greatest Mexican movies i've ever seen, it has great acting, great cinematography and a good script.. This movie is funny in every way and very touching at the same time, I'm Mexican and I don't like Mexican movies that much but this one really did make me laugh, it may the best Mexican movie in the last three years, but I'f your not very aware of the people in Mexico you may not be able to find it that funny, so first I recommend you learn some of the traditions in Mexico, then you go and enjoy this wonderful gem of a movie. Carlos Cuaron did an amazing Job i won't be surprise if in a few years he gets well recognize in the movie business like his brother Alfonso Cuaron. All in all great movie through if you are from Mexico go see it, you'll love it..

Two siblings rival each other inside the world of professional soccer.

This film is marketed as being from the creators of "Y Tu Mama Tambien", which is not only true but very wise marketing. But let us not be fooled, this film is not on the same level, even if it looks just as good and has the same folks involved.

Aspects of it are quite good, and the Cheap trick karaoke is fairly amusing. But this rivalry of two soccer players is not very compelling. In "Mama", there was another rivalry between two young men, but that seemed more powerful. This is a situation where we feel no need to care about one or the other.

In his debut as director someone could expect something more from Cuaron especially if we see starring Gael Garcia and Diego Luna this time as two province ingenuous brothers, amateur futbol players who are tempted for a kind of mercenary scout,played by the Argentine actor Guillermo Francella(exceptional in this role)to try their luck at Mexico City in a Professional team,the movie plays with different situations around the futbol business ,some of them very attached with the reality ,for example that the agents of the futbol players make a lot of money and become the futbol in a very expensive show, the agents have to spread some money to trainers and others in order to their player could have the opportunity to play,some of these points I guess Cuaron could be advised by Hector Gonzalez Iñarritu, Director of Mexican Futbol Federation and brother of Alejandro Gonzalez one of the producers of the film,about these facts difference others very far of the reality as futbol Players begin their career at their thirty and without experience even in amateur competition Aside these points the movie result very entertaining as the way of Garcia and Luna develop their characters although sometimes Luna overact especially his way to speak, sounds like "Ponchito" the personage of Andres Bustamante famous in TV,besides Gael make funny his perform of singer despite of his awful interpretation, a kind of parody of Valentin Elizalde,unlike others very pretentious characters that he plays in different films,the movie got a very good reward in ticket offices mostly because of its starring couple

Well... BEFORE jumping into this Mexican Offering....

FIRST: Let us FOCUS on the Title's Content and Context:

What great expectations I had for this film! And why not? Most of the Mexican films I've seen this year have received a well-deserved 4 Stars! Besides, this film boasts a redux of the pairing of Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, who starred together in "Y Tu Mama También". Remember the great portrayals they rendered in that film? The great on-screen chemistry they exhibited!?!

"RUDO" begins with the title characters as brothers; well, half brothers, anyway, working on a banana plantation in rural Mexico. RUDO started out OK, although most of the funnier bits were rooted in the cultural regional oddities demonstrated in the congenial non-stop string of obscenities and insults the two brothers hurled at each other.

I don't have to read subtitles in Spanish, but for those who do, I would imagine a lot of the humor would be lost because of them, and also because these regional cultural quirks are naturally lost in translation! As RUDO progressed, I increasingly became aware that my expectations were not going to be met. Like genetically engineered bananas...You know, the ones that take forever to ripen!... RUDO was picked too soon and served up green! The movie is funny and amusing, at times, but could have been a hell of a lot better, if everybody hadn't been so forced, if they all hadn't TRIED SO hard...to be funny!

If they ALL hadn't been so stressed, I could have forgiven that RUDO's basic premise revolves around two 30-ish banana ranch worker brothers, who play local soccer on weekends, suddenly becoming the BEST soccer players in all of Mexico! That's a lot of suspension-of-disbelief!

BTW...Don't miss the music video in Special Features...Las chicas Mexicanas try just hard enough! Barely limps in w/6*******.

BUT.... ANYWAYS.... ENJOY! / DIDFRITELA!