Casa de mi Padre (2012)
Starring Will Ferrell, Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna, Genesis Rodriguez, and Nick Offerman
Directed by Matt Piedmont
Told nearly completely in Spanish with subtitles, Ferrell is Armando, the less respected son of rancher Miguel Ernesto (Pedro Armendariz, Jr.). Always unfavorably compared to his more successful brother Raul (Diego Luna), Armando spends his days riding his horse and hanging out with his buddies, trying to avoid the constant stream of negativity he receives from his father. When Raul returns home with the news that he is going to wed the lovely Sonia (Genesis Rodriguez), Armando becomes even more dejected seeing how much the impending nuptials have pleased his father. However, Armando soon discovers that Raul is a rising kingpin in the Mexican drug industry and as he uncovers more of his brother's secrets, he begins to fall for Sonia who desperately longs to break away from the dangerous life led by her fiancé.
This melodrama is attempted to be played for laughs, but I'm not sure I chuckled even once during this thing. It is honestly quite painful to sit through. I almost expected Casa de mi Padre to be hammier and sillier, but despite the purposeful overacting, painted backdrops, and stuffed mountain lions, I couldn't help but think I should've been being constantly barraged with ridiculousness. Instead, I'd find more laughs watching five minutes of a bad telenovela on Telemundo.
As a side note: poor Genesis Rodriguez stuck in two absolutely awful movies released in 2012 -- this and Man on a Ledge. She's beautiful to look at and is one of the better parts of both of these very disappointing movies.
The RyMickey Rating: D-
Thanks so much for the link to Funny or Die, I think I just spent two hours there and didn’t even realize it since it has so many funny videos. With almost each new project, I see of Will Ferrell, I fall more and more in love with his comedy style. Contrary to how you felt of Casa de Mi Padre, I thought it was hilarious! I was bored at home last night, and skimmed over new releases through my Hopper’s Blockbuster @Home app until I decided to check out this movie. I love when a boring night can turn fun, and Will Ferrell did just that for me by making a movie like all the cheesy novelas I grew up watching. They’re actually how I learned Spanish! This one guy at Dish where I work told me that Casa de Mi Padre was like The Anchorman for him, except with different contexts of course. I think this movie is definitely the first of its kind, and I would love to see more.
ReplyDelete