Casa de mi Padre [Review]

Casa de mi Padre is pretty much one of the strangest films you will ever see. The plot is weird, the characters are weird, the sex scene is balls-to-the-wall (though thankfully not balls-to-the-camera) batshit weird. Oh, and lest I forget, there’s that one scene where a coyote, a lion and two Bengal tigers fight it out. Yep. That happens. Probably.

Matt Piedmont’s first cinematic release (following a handful of TV efforts), which is entirely in Spanish and therefore subtitled, by the way, depicts a pair of Mexican ranch-dwelling brothers, one half of whom has become embroiled in the world of drug-trafficking. The other half is Will Ferrell, looking completely out of place but sounding completely in place, and generally being himself. But Spanish.

Raul Álvarez (Diego Luna) is the drug-embroiled one, and he’s brought home apparently the only woman in Mexico, Sonia Lopez (Genesis Rodriguez). Which explains why everyone else seems to want her. Either way, she’s trouble for Raul, she’s trouble for Armando (Ferrell), and trouble for pretty much their entire way of life. So, this is a film about trouble in Mexico. There’s guns, there’s horses, there’s a ranch, and there’s corrupt American cops. The whole shebang.

Sadly, it never quite gels together. It’s labelled as a comedy – the tagline being ‘the funniest film you’ll ever read’ – but you wouldn’t know it otherwise. There’s the odd few laughs here and there, but only mingled among talking wildcats, seriously WTF? dream sequences (though further reading indicates these are apparently replete with Will Ferrell’s films, unbeknownst to me) and a very loose plot.

Indeed, the main problem with Casa de mi Padre is its complete lack of direction. It just about hangs together for its 84 minute runtime (though even that ends up feeling bloated), but ultimately lacks focus, and we’re left wondering: who the hell is this film for? Is it an unfunny comedy? Is it a terrible spoof on Mexican-based westerns? Is it simply the result of Piedmont and Ferrell getting high one afternoon and writing something resembling a script?

Although if it was the latter, it would probably have had more laughs than this. Worth a watch, perhaps, but one that might have been better condensed into a short or skit.

✰✰

Dir: Matt Piedmont
Cast: Will Ferrell, Diego Luna, Genesis Rodriguez, Gael García Bernal
NALA Films, 84 mins, 08/06/12

Synopsis: Two brothers find themselves in an all-out war with one of Mexico's most fearsome drug lords in an attempt to save their father's ranch. And the heart of the damsel in distress, of course...