Casa de Mi Padre
Will Ferrell plays a Mexican cowpoke in convoluted and campy affair.
Starring: Will Ferrell, Diego Luna, Gael Garcia Bernal, Génesis Rodríguez, Efren Ramirez, Nick, Offerman Playing in Spanish with English subtitles at: AMC Parents’ guide: language, violence, humorous partial nudity (bums), drugs. The Three Amigos meet Quentin Tarantino in Casa de Mi Padre, the very funny film directed by former Saturday Night Live writer Matt Piedmont. It stars Will Ferrell as a Mexican cowpoke out to save his family estate from an evil drug lord played by Gael Garcia Bernal.
The twist? It’s all in Spanish. Okay, there are a handful of lines in English by a pair of American DEA agents (including Parks and Recrea- tion’s Nick Offerman); and Ferrell drops a few words in his mother tongue, albeit with a thick Spanish accent.
His español, meanwhile, is downright impressive. Delivered in total deadpan, Ferrell’s specialty – he even downturns the corners of his lips, at times, for added gravitas – it’s a joke that just doesn’t get old.
The story, by former SNL head writer Andrew Steele, posits Ferrell as Armando Alvarez, the dopey but well-meaning son of once-wealthy Mexican ranch owner, Señor Alvarez (Pedro Armendáriz, Jr.), and big brother to Raul (Diego Luna).
Armando spends his days tending to the livestock with equally out-to-lunch compadres Esteban (Efren Ramirez, of Napoleon Dynamite) and Manuel (Adrian Martinez). One day, Armando’s father explains that he is deeply in debt. His problems appear solved when Raul comes home unexpectedly with beautiful fiancée, Sonia (Génesis Rodríguez), promising he will take care of everything.
“The one with the brains has returned!” Señor Alvarez exclaims, relieved.
But Raul is a little too slick for his own good, and it soon becomes clear that he hasn’t come by his riches honestly. To make matters worse, he is in a war with rival drug lord Onza (Bernal).
The plot thickens when Armando falls in love with Sonia, while struggling to make peace with the death of his mother when he was a child.
If it all sounds a little convoluted, generic and silly, that’s because it is. The main draw here is Ferrell (speaking Spanish!) and his entertaining crew of accomplices. Bernal and Luna, you may remember, starred together in Y Tu Mamá También; and they appear to be enjoying themselves, hamming it up in this campy affair.
Piedmont doesn’t hold back in the director’s chair, injecting multiple elements to cut through firstdegree readings of his tale: from the saturated colours and melodramatic theme song (sung in Spanish by Christina Aguilera) of the Tarantino-evoking opening credit sequence; to random jump cuts; obviously fake horse-riding scenes; a ridiculous stuffed jaguar-ghost (made by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop) looking over Ferrell; and a Scarface-tribute climax.
To tell any more would be to reveal too many jokes, but suffice to say that Casa de Mi Padre is a thoroughly enjoyable ride, if you’re willing to dumb down and keep up with the subtitles.