Casa de Mi Padre
“Casa de Mi Padre” is a particularly bizarre addition to
Will Ferrell’s comedy oeuvre. It’s an American-produced, Spanish language movie
where Will Ferrell speaks Spanish the whole time against actual Spanish actors.
In concept, it seems like it would be a five minute Funny Or Die skit, which
should not be surprising because it was produced by F.O.D. owners Ferrell and
Adam McKay (who directed “Anchorman” and “Talladega Nights”). Despite some
hilarious scenes, “Casa de mi Padre” feels like it would be more fitting to
short form.
Armando Alvarez (Ferrell) is a lover of the land and ranch
his father owns, and he wishes to take it over some day. However, his brother
Paul (Diego Luna), after coming back home with fiancée Sonia (Genesis
Rodriguez), is his father’s choice to inherit the farm because he feels Armando
is too incompetent. But when Paul gets mixed up with local drug lord the Onza
(Gael Garcia Bernal), a war ensues that finds Armando stepping up to defend his
heritage and fall in love with Sonia.
Full disclosure: “Casa de mi Padre” is the definition of a
niche film. If you haven’t stopped reading after the first paragraph, then you
might be a part of the niche interested in the movie. In addition to being a
Spanish language American film, the sense of humor will appeal most to those
who watch Spanish telenovellas (essentially soap operas). Are you still with
this?
Even though I’ve only come across Spanish soap operas in
passing, I was able to understand where many of the jokes come from. The
majority of them lampoon the ridiculously melodramatic nature of soap opera
acting and dialogue, as well as the technical flubs and low budget effects that
come into play. Luckily, I found much of this funny, although the movie tends
to rely on this type of humor as a crutch. By the end of the short 80 minute
running time, the joke of having a cheaply painted background or laughable special
effects (an animatronics controlled leopard) wore old by a certain point.
Thankfully, Ferrell dials down the man-child persona that he
typically uses in his Adam McKay directed features, and his handle of the
Spanish language is impeccable I am told by friends. The many Spanish actors
surrounding him tend to overshadow him though, especially Gael Garcia Bernal as
the Onza, who is having a blast chewing the scenery and playing up the charm in
his villainous role. There’s a running bit where he lights up a cigar every
time he has a conversation with somebody, which leads to an unexpectedly absurd
and funny joke where he lights up two cigars while having two conversations at
the same time, and Bernal plays it completely straight.
It’s this form of absurdist humor that is familiar to fans
of Will Ferrell’s style and allows those unfamiliar with the material being
spoofed to get some mild enjoyment out of it. In the same scene with the
cigars, the overly melodramatic tone is funny enough, but once Bernal pulls
dirt out of thin air to explain how important the land is, the joke really hits
home.
I only wish that “Casa de mi Padre” had managed to be more
diverse in its jokes and didn’t spread itself so thin even at such a short
running time. When compared to Ferrell’s other output, it rests somewhere in
the lower middle in terms of quality, better than “Semi Pro” and “The Other
Guys” (which I did not enjoy) but not up to the level of “Anchorman” or even
the overrated “Step Brothers.” It won’t appeal to a big audience, but I’m sure
there are those out there that will enjoy it more than I did.
2.5/4 Rating Criteria
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