Casa de Mi Padre (2012)

Movie Info

Campfire songs are a must!

Armando Álvarez (Will Ferrell) is the son of Mexican rancher Señor Álvarez (Pedro Armendáriz, Jr.).  When his favored brother Raúl Álvarez (Diego Luna) returns with a fiancée named Sonia Lopez (Génesis Rodríguez), Armando uncovers the truth that his brother is a drug lord and in battle with Onza (Gael García Bernal). Armando is tapped by the Mexican Federal (Manuel Urrego) and an American DEA agent named Parker (Nick Offerman) to bring his brother down, but discovers it is all part of a larger conspiracy.  Now, Armando’s land is threatened and Sonia has been kidnapped by Onza…and only Armando can get her back.  Armando has discovered he has fallen in love with his brother woman and might uncover the secret behind his mother’s murder.

I have a rifle and I’m not afraid to use it!

Directed by Matt Piedmont, Casa de Mi Padre is a parody of Mexican telenovelas.  The movie is in Spanish and stars Ferrell with a primarily Spanish speaking cast.  The movie was met with mixed reviews.

I admire Casa de Mi Padre.  It was brave of the filmmakers to make a Spanish speaking comedy starring a big American star that could possibly bring in viewers, but also asks them to read subtitles…something that can be rather tough in a movie with a lot of physical comedy.

Love…Exciting and New!

The story of the film combines a lot of classic elements of Mexican films like over-the-top drama and acting at points.  If you are familiar with Mexican style films, this makes the movie better.  You don’t have to be entirely versed in the style of film, but it does help…familiarity with some of Robert Rodriguez’s work like El Mariachi or Desperado might suffice to enhance the film’s comedy.

Ferrell does a good job in this film despite it being made in another language.  Half the humor in the film is a result of him not being Mexican (in a family of Mexicans), and it never being referenced.  Génesis Rodríguez is good as Ferrell’s romantic entrance and is more than just “eye candy” in her performance.  The film also has appearances by Napoleon Dynamite’s pal Pedro (actor Efren Ramirez) as one of Armondo’s friends and also criminally underuses Parks & Recreation’s Nick Offerman in a very similar performance to his Ron Swanson.

The best scene that you’ll never see…

Visually the movie parodies the often cheap stylings of the Mexican telenovelas.  Obvious fake animals like horses, calves, and the intentionally horribly looking talking white lion are funny if you get the humor but might be off-putting to some (one scene is even stopped to apologize for not having the effects laden event due to a problem with cocaine on the set).  With the fake effects, there is blood…lots of blood (and you get some great songs too).

I enjoyed Casa de Mi Padre.  I thought it was a different and clever comedy that is a bit of an oddity.  Despite not doing horribly great in the theaters, I hope people catch on to this movie and give it a shot.  The movie is short, and to the point so enjoy the subtitles and a different Ferrell comedy.