Casa de mi padre

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.

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.

"Ill take care of my family, let the devil take care of you." After Armando's (Ferrell) brother Raul (Luna) returns home he is happy is family is whole again. His father is happy that his favorite son is back and they are all impressed with his new girlfriend. After talking to her Armando begins to wonder about his brother's new wealth. When he finds out his brother is a drug dealer he begins to second guess everything. When a family tragedy occurs it is up to Armando to avenge the Alvarez name. I have to preface this by saying that I am a huge Will Ferrell fan and love just about everything he has done (wasn't a fan of "Semi-Pro"). After the masterpiece that was "Anchorman" he did seem to make a few movies where he played that guy over and over. I really liked it but when you saw a movie with him you knew exactly what you were gonna get. Then I saw "Everything Must Go". I gained more respect for him after that because of his stretch to become more of a dramatic actor. Then he does this movie...entirely in Spanish. I was looking forward to it but wasn't sure what to expect. I should have known however. The comedy is definitely Ferrell type comedy...over the top line delivery and totally off the wall things that you can't help but laugh at (such as we walks to a large brown calf to pick it up, when he turns around it is an obviously stuffed black one). Trying his best to make a cheesy 70's style Mexican movie he 100% attains his goal. Cheesy effects and bad editing make it that much funnier. Overall, if you like Will Ferrell you will love this movie. I sure did. Very funny. If you are worried that his humor won't work in another language don't worry. It does and then some. I give it a B+.

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.