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Friday, March 16, 2012

MOVIE REVIEW
Casa De Mi Padre

In America, Where Reading Movies
In Spanish Is Fundamentally Good


Genesis Rodriguez as Sonia and Will Ferrell as Armando in "Casa De Mi Padre". 
Pantelion/Lionsgate

    

by
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com        Follow popcornreel on Twitter FOLLOW                                           
Friday, March 16
, 2012

Exceptionally thin but often extremely funny, the comedy adventure "Casa De Mi Padre", Matt Piedmont's genre mash-up and homage to Sergio Leone and grind house fare, charms and dazzles from start to finish.  Will Ferrell swallows a Spanish-language dictionary and goes for broke as Armando Alvarez, the put-upon "covalde" of the Alvarez clan.  Nothing is good enough for Papa Alvarez (Pedro Armendáriz Jr
.) where his elder son Armando is concerned, but favored son Raul (Diego Luna) can do no wrong, even if he is up to his ears in cocaine.  Raul will marry the beautiful Sonia (Genesis Rodriguez), even if Armando not-so secretly pines for her.

"Casa De Mi Padre" is, except for two lines, entirely in Spanish, and promises that it's "the funniest movie you'll ever read."  That guarantee is quite accurate, although "Johnny Stecchino", Roberto Benigni's comedy, is fairly formidable.  That film's nimble humor isn't here, but Mr. Piedmont's film's endurance and success is in its Jerry Zucker-like "Airplane" and "Naked Gun" sight gags and diversions, as well as the actors' hesitations, exaggerated inflections, especially from Gael Garcia Bernal as La Onza, hilarious here as a villain who is also Sonia's uncle.  Mr. Luna is also funny and great, stopping at inopportune moments to drink and smoke.  There's one scene midway through "Casa De Mi Padre" that is an absolute gut-buster.  Adam McKay ("Anchorman") and his friend Mr. Ferrell go from strength to strength with this film, which is snappy, smart and short enough not to overstay its welcome.

As written by Andrew Steele, "Case De Mi Padre" hardly disguises its intentions as a wacky, absurd comedy romp, but there are moments of blunt violence and drama, though nuggets of comedy stubbornly persists even in those serious beats.  Mr. Ferrell, an effortless master of comedy and proficient in drama, milks the parody and silliness to astronomical heights but mostly settles into a comfort zone and credibility as a renewed Armando.  Mr. Ferrell's strengths are his unselfconsciousness on screen, but he is every bit aware of the foolishness of this film and his Gringo-as-Mexican character, and he slyly hams it up, to fine effect.  It's hard not to laugh at and with him. 

With the changing face of America becoming Latino, Mr. Ferrell uses "Casa" to instinctively transition to that very near future by trying to assimilate himself.  In a day not too long past, a satire like this and the efforts of a white actor in a Mexican or Latin American role might have been frowned upon by some, but Mr. Ferrell is totally likable and fluent in Spanish here, and it's hard to deny his efforts to speak the language properly.

All the actors do well, with Ms. Rodriguez -- the movie poster "introduces" her but she was in this year's very poor "Man On A Ledge" -- essentially playing straight woman to the comic blunders on display.  Her Sonia is a throwback to those comedic ladies way back when who were always above the fray amidst the male goof-balling madness, keeping cool, calm, wise and remaining appealing throughout.  Ms. Rodriguez, alluring, beautiful and smart, engineers a cleverness that adds to the film's cute charms and comedy.

Lean and lithe, "Casa De Mi Padre", with some truly great nuggets of social commentary wrapped in humor during one funny sequence, is a film that represents a new threshold for Will Ferrell's fan base.  Mr. Piedmont's film is a Saturday Night Live sketch that sustains its sharpness and freshness, longer perhaps than it has any right to.  It's undeniable, winning, laugh-a-minute fun, as are the end credits.

With: Nick Offerman, Efren Ramirez, Adrian Martinez.




"Casa De Mi Padre" is rated R by the Motion Picture Association Of America for bloody violence, language, some sexual content and drug use.  The film's running time is one hour and 24 minutes.

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