Tom's Corner:
Casa De Mi Padre
(2012, Matt Piedmont, dir.)
I endured this movie last night, and it got me thinking: What is it that makes a movie good? As I got to thinking about this more and more, I realized that every movie I’ve ever enjoyed had certain qualities. When all these qualities were present, the film was so much…more…it had become something greater than the sum of its parts. When those qualities are missing, we can feel it, if not express it in words. But, this, dear reader, is what I will attempt to do. I will attempt to express, in words, why Casa de Mi Padre was one of the worst film watching experiences I have ever had.
But first, a summary of the plot, such as it is. Unintelligent, somewhat cowardly Mexican ranchero Armando Alvarez (Will Ferrell) loves the land that his father’s ranch is built on. How do we know he is unintelligent, cowardly and in love with the land? Everyone in the film tells us, repeatedly. Just an aside here: Will Ferrell, no matter how one may feel about him, did a wonderful job learning Spanish and reciting his lines. It does not appear he was reading them off cue cards. No matter what you think of the movie, you have to respect the actor for this.
There is a problem in Mexico with drug traffickers, and some of the problem is spilling over onto Senor Alvarez’s (Pedro Armendariz Jr.) ranch. Cue a visit from his other son, Raul (Diego Luna). Raul is well dressed, connected and brings with him his beautiful new fiancé, Sonia (Genesis Rodriguez). So it is no shock when we learn Raul is a drug dealer as well, and that the murders have been a result of friction between Raul and local drug lord La Onza (Gael Garcia Bernal). Tensions are also high within the Alvarez family, since Armando does not believe that Sonia loves Raul. At their wedding, everyone except for Raul and Sonia are killed. Armando, having been sent away by his father, is absent, but returns to sit by his father’s deathbed and hear his last words. Armando goes after Sonia, who has run off, and the two end up having an unnecessary sex scene. Another aside: Will Ferrell, showing us your ass is NOT funny. A quick flash or a shot like Donald Sutherland in Animal House is ok, but your revolving ass shot was just not funny.
Anyway, the next morning they are found, Armando is shot, and Sonia is taken prisoner. He is saved by the true La Onza, a white mountain cat Muppet. There’s an incomprehensible scene of psychedelia and then Armando goes to meet with his brother to rescue Sonia. If you can’t guess what happens here, you’ve not seen too many movies. Also, there’s a goes nowhere subplot with DEA agents that, if excised, would cause the movie to lose nothing.
Now here’s where I feel this movie lost its way. First off, it’s a comedy that doesn’t try particularly hard to be funny. The lines that are supposed to be funny are without much context to make them funny. Randomness isn’t funny; otherwise it would be called funny, and we wouldn’t have the word random. There were maybe two truly laugh out loud moments in the movie, and neither involve any of the principal actors. The acting wasn’t particularly great either. I understand it is supposed to be exaggerated and over the top, but it didn’t seem like some of the actors did. Ferrell in particular seemed to be phoning it in, and there is no excuse for that. I put much of the blame for this being as bad as it is on his shoulders. There was also nothing shocking or surprising in the plot. It followed the same formula that bad comedies always do: everything’s happy, but oh no, a big change, which leads to coping or not coping with change, eventually spiraling into big crashing worst thing ever look at all the sad people and finally the rush to make things right and get revenge or retribution and hey, everything’s happy again.
So don’t see this movie. Don’t see any more of Will Ferrell’s movies. Yeah, I am aware that a sequel to Anchorman is coming out, but do you really think it will be better than the first one which wasn’t all that good in the first place? If Ferrell’s downhill spiral is any indication, no, it will not be.
DVD Special Features:
• "Making of" featurette
• Deleted Scenes
• "Fight for Love" Music Video- Original song performed by Will Ferrell and Genesis Rodriguez
• Commerciales - 4 different faux commercials starring Will Ferrell, Diego Luna, Genesis Rodriguez, Efren Ramirez and Nick Offerman
• Pedro Armendariz Jr. Final Interview
• Audio commentary by Director Matt Piedmont, Writer/Producer Andrew Steele and Star of the Film Will Ferrell
- Tom
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