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Bernal and Luna play brothers Tato and Beto living in rural Mexico. Beto (Luna) is the foreman at a local banana plantation and Tato (Bernal) works with him there. They live with their extended family where they dote on their loving mother, but hate her brutish new husband. Like most of the locals they let off steam playing football in a nearby dirt field. It is here that they gain their nicknames Rudo and Cursi, although the latter's is somewhat influenced by his first love: music. When a soccer scout breaks down nearby and chances upon their football match, he is quite taken with the brothers. However, he can only take one with him to Mexico City. The decision is made on the penalty spot, and the film spirals onwards from this crucial moment as the brothers try and achieve their lifelong ambitions without betraying their roots: and each other. The biggest problem this film has is that it just isn't sure what it wants to be. The initial sibling rivalry showed the continued chemistry between Bernal and Luna, and made me ache for more comedy square-offs. But the film seemed to descent into a morality tale that mirrored many a rags-to-riches story, and tried to expose the gritty underbelly of Mexico without really allowing itself to lapse into the dramatic tension and cinematic grittiness required by such a task. And when moments of high drama did emerge, whether due to sibling conflicts or the nature of life as a sportsman, Cuarón refused to let go of the comedy. Scenes of genuine emotional impact were frequently and frustratingly interrupted by mediocre footballing cliches spouted by the scout (who sporadically acted as narrator). Worse still, as a sports movie it was found desperately wanting. Either Bernal and Luna had no sporting skills whatsoever or Cuarón did not trust them to adequately exhibit what they had. Whatever the reason, the sporting scenes were clearly cut to show as little actual sport as possible. The results are as frustrating as every other dead-end the various storylines reached. A final gripe that must be aired is the depicted of women in this film. Alternately cheating, lying, being duped and nagging, they are a bunch who are embarrassingly poor accompaniments to the central stories. If the point was to suggest the vacuous misogyny of the football world and contrast it to the difficult lot women have in rural Mexico, the script flies way off the mark. As if it isn't bad enough that the women are damned by the rural men and damned by the rich sports men, they seem to be damned by the scriptwriter too. Overall this is an amusing film that flirts with something bigger without ever really achieving it. Minor irritations and unfinished thoughts hamper Cuarón's grand designs, but the excellent central performances make this a watchable film to while away an evening. But it's by no means the grand reunion it promised to be. Rating: *** Starring: Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna, Guillermo Francella, Jessica Mas Director: Carlos Cuarón Release date: 26th June 2009 Run time: 103 mins Language: Spanish Review by Michael Edwards
Want more? See our Rudo & Cursi-inspired list of foreign comedies here. |
Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna are reunited for the first time since Y tu Mamá También. The man linking the two features and the two men is writer Carlos Cuarón, who is venturing out in the world of feature directing with this dramedy/sports movie Rudo and Cursi.
