Casa de Mi Padre (2012)

Admirable film.

Absolutely Fantastic

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Now if you were or maybe still are a big fan of the soaps, especially those from Mexico, than you may see more in this. Or you may be offended of course. But this one shot idea (no pun intended) loses quite a lot of its driving power. There are certain scenes that do have a lot of fun and a lot of material that are entertaining.But maybe I'm spoiled. And I don't just mean other Will Ferrell movies, but also a movie called "Tears of the Black Tiger", which while paying homage to cinema and Westerns and different other aspects, really walked the fine line perfectly. This movie has a lot shout-outs too (my sub-woofer had a lot to work with) and there is a lot of violence of course. And it's almost entirely in Spanish, if you didn't know that already. Watch but don't expect too much

This movie shows that contrary to what I thought about Ferrell, this is a real artist that no longer cares about making tons of money but want to DO CINEMA while at the same time entertain and have fun. THIS IS WHAT REAL CINEMATIC ARTS are all about. People that thought this is not funny just don't know the telenovelas and the classic low budget Mexican cinematic arts world. Go investigate that context and have fun watching this film. It's too bad Hollywood won't support real cinema. It just cares about the money. This movies, along with Napoleon Dynamite and Instructions not included are excellent examples of the global multilingual world we live on. "Do you speak American" sums how ignorant we have become as a community. Thumps up for Ferrell.

Matt Piedmont's "Casa de mi Padre" casts Will Ferrell as the heir to a Mexican ranch who has to defend it from a ruthless drug lord (Gael García Bernal). But it's mostly a parody of all the over-the-top telenovelas. And a funny one at that. It incorporates a bit of magical realism along the way. But the spoof of telenovelas and brief look at US attitudes toward Mexicans is what really makes the movie. It's just a funny movie. And let me tell you, Génesis Rodríguez is a looker for the ages! As for the drug war, it'll probably continue as long as there's demand, and so the current approach is no different from Prohibition.PS: Pedro Armendáriz, Jr., who plays the family patriarch, is the son of the actor who played the Turkish agent in "From Russia with Love". Pedro Sr. died of cancer caused by radiation exposure during the filming of John Wayne's Genghis Khan biopic "The Conqueror".

This movie is a ridiculous waste of time and money. It's a script that is outdated. The humor is rusty and doesn't work. The direction is chaotic and immature. I can not believe anyone nowadays is willing to put any effort in the making of this kind of crap. The whole thing looks cheap like it could have been conceived and produced in a week, if not in a couple of days. Of course if you do your best to see through all of this there is a glimpse of freshness that probably is one of the generally more appreciated trademarks of Mr. Ferrell I suppose. If you are looking to have some fun try finding it somewhere else.