Casa De Mi Padre

IMDb Link

Let me start by saying I am a big Will Ferrell fan and he makes me giggle like nobody else can. Let me also start, albeit as a second point, by saying that I didn't know what to make of this at first. Obviously, it was a comedy, but it took me a little while to realize where the humor lay. Then I got it, and damn it: I wish I had been high.

'Being high' comment put aside, I like to think I know a thing or two about films. I'm no expert, but I've seen my share of films. This movie is, I suppose, making fun of low-budget Mexican cinema. And that's cool. But if I have no idea if that's the case or not, do the other people?
Well, some do... I am guessing this film was made for the Mexicans living in the US. Again: that's cool. I mean, it's smart: it's a big community and lots of cash is to be had there. But... I did laugh quite a few times, but sometimes I 'merely' smiled, figuring that what I was watching was some kind of reference that Mexicans would get, but I totally didn't. That made me feel a bit left out.

I mean, what's next? An Uzbek-road movie spoof? A Nicaraguan coming-of-age spoof? A Nepalese rom-com spoof? I am not saying these would be bad, just that, well... it kinda alienates the audience. A bit. I am sure many Mexican films are being spoofed in this here movie, but the only people who'd get all those references, apart from the director, would be Alfonso Arau and Robert Rodriguez. And I'm sure Tarantino would totally pretend that he got it, too.
Speaking of which: what Grind House does, pretending to be tongue-in-cheek but deep-down feeling like they are artists, this film does by not using crappy film stock or horrible acting or bad directing. Just cheesy-directing, obviously done on purpose. Plus it makes you smile, and sometimes even laugh. And, I can't stress this enough: no horrible grainy 70s film stock. That counts for something.

Anyway, they do take that 'low-budget cheese' to a whole new level. Look at the 'extras' in the background, who are actually mannequins, the fake-looking sets, the 'car' finding a parking spot, the weird editing 'mistakes,' the 'crew' seen in reflections. And of course: one of the weirdest, cheesiest 'sex scenes' ever (the weirdest is still the one from 'Team America.' Fuck, yeah!).

But that's the thing... I noticed these things, as many people have too, of course. And that makes it funny.
But first-degree idiots (I didn't say 'Americans.' I almost did, but I didn't) will think the dialogue is bad and the film is just not funny because no one mentions dicks or shit. Well, okay, there is a dick joke, but I suspect this was put in because of the test audiences who probably wrote: 'What the fuck? This ain't
in American and there are no dick jokes!'

I would like to also say that the 'musical numbers' are, of course, cheesy but... I actually enjoyed them! Come on: 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' in Spanish? Awesome! The other songs and the music was also quite beautiful. Yes, yes: I said it: beautiful. But I'm a typical gringo. Give me a non-Gringo tempo and non Anglo-Saxon lyrics and I wax lyrical, thinking I am a cultured person who loves the world. (But, no, really: I really liked the music!)

So, what's the point of this film, aside from the humor (which, let's face it is already more than enough)? Well, I have a Spanish-speaking friend and I like to speak 'Spanish' to him saying things like 'Muy caliente! Puneta! Caramba!' And other vaguely offensive shit. My guess is that Will Ferrell finds speaking Spanish as amusing as I do, but he can have a film made around that. At the risk of repeating myself: that's cool.

On top of that, you have Nick Offerman, who as always totally rules. 'Do you speak American,' encapsulate the arrogance of the US of A. It's also pretty fun to see Bernal (that dude just rules. I'm not ashamed to say  I got a total man-crush on him) and Luna in a film again. Although I kept expecting a 'Y Tu Mama Tabien' reference... Although maybe there were some that I missed.
Or I guess you could also argue that this is could totally be a sequel.

The parts where I laughed most were Will trying to put the girl on the horse (what can I say, I'm a fool for slapstick), the bad guy smoking two cigarillos at once, and the wedding scene, with the groom smoking (and when later on he's fighting and enjoying a drink). Also, the guy with a bullet hole calmly sitting and smoking.
It doesn't take much to make me laugh, what can I say... Apparently I'm a sucker for 'smoking humour,' which is good since half the jokes fit in that very category. I'm not even exaggerating, see the sequence after the credits if you don't believe me. But I also loved Emilio Sanchez's 'message' (even though, or perhaps because, it made me think of the Monty Pythons, or Les Nuls).
And the 'vision' was awesome (and it had more 'smoking humour').

Shit, they even managed to fit a reference to Eisenstein. I hadn't seen that since Woody Allen (and, well, DePalma).

Oh, and of course, it would be weird if I didn't mention it: the girl is super hot. I really felt I had to mention that. Because she really, really is.
La chica es muy caliente!

So, it's an unusual film and its humor is pretty off beat. I enjoyed it, I laughed, I giggled and I am guessing it's the kind of film that gets better the more you watch and which will be a quotable classic in the not-so-distant-future. I am also guessing that as Borat pissed of Kazakhs, this film will piss off Mexicans if you quote it to them. So, you know: don't.

PS: Completely unrealted, but disturbing nonetheless... The Turkish wine I was drinking while watching this film tasted like Bulgarian rakia. Again: unrelated. But pretty weird, no?