Casa de mi Padre Review

This latest offering from the perennially amusing Will Ferrell stars the talented comic as Armando Alvarez, the second son of a ranch owner in Mexico. Armando’s life is turned upside down by the return of his beloved but drug-dealing brother Raul (Diego Luna), who brings with him not only his mysterious new fiancé Sonia (Genesis Rodriguez), but the wrath of rival drug lord The Onza (Gael Garcia Bernal). Thus the stage is set for a grand tale of love, rivalry, violence and redemption. Saturday Night Live alumni Matt Piedmont makes his feature film debut as director.

Did I mention it’s all in the Spanish language? Beyond the initial novelty of watching the talented Ferrell speak flawless Spanish, Casa de Mi Padre is a very funny, enjoyably silly spoof of Mexican Westerns and melodramatic telenovelas and mines a similar vein of comedy as Blaxploitation parody Black Dynamite.

Ferrell can be a divisive comedian and some would be largely justified in levelling accusations of self-indulgence at the prospect of a daft tongue in cheek film in another language. As a fan of Ferrell however, I thought the film boasted a lot of the charm of his best work (such as Elf or Megamind) and was more memorable than many of his seemingly endless sports comedies. It doesn’t have the phenomenally high laugh rate of an Anchorman or a Zoolander but it was certainly very entertaining and had the audience of which I was a part of chuckling loudly and frequently. It’s also reassuring to see Adam McKay, frequent Ferrell collaborator credited as a producer.

Those who enjoyed Y tu mamá también or Rudo y Cursi will be as delighted as I was to see Mexican acting duo Bernal and Luna reunite for a third time. They don’t share a great deal of screen time but the obvious enjoyment they are having on set is evident on screen. The inclusion of Genesis Rodriguez is another treat. The charismatic actress was more or less the best thing in the otherwise turgid non-thriller Man on a Ledge so it’s excellent to see her in an actually decent film. I predict she’s going to go on to bigger and brighter things very soon.

Other things to look out for in the film include some several rousingly entertaining musical numbers (Ferrell gives his not at all unimpressive vocal cords a mariachi work out in the film’s songs), some deliberate production goofs and low-tech special effects and the best ever fight scene involving a lion puppet (nod nod, wink wink).

Whilst perhaps not for everyone – it’s doubtful a mainstream audience will take it into their hearts, the genre of film being parodied being perhaps a little obscure on this side of the pond – Casa de Mi Padre will provide some big laughs and high entertainment for those who will take the trouble to seek it out. In short, la película es buena.

Megamind Review

Rocketed to earth as a baby, evil blue genius Megamind (Will Ferrell) plots the destruction of his rival, the superhero Metro Man (Brad Pitt) and plans to take over Metro City (mispronounced by our antihero in such a way that it rhymes with ‘monstrosity’). He is aided and abetted by Minion (David Cross), a fish in control of a robotic gorilla body. When Megamind accidently defeats Metro Man, he is free to take over the city, but he quickly becomes bored with success and goes about creating a new hero to fight. Meanwhile, intrepid reporter Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey) serves a romantic interest/serial kidnap victim.

Following shortly behind the similarly themed Despicable Me, Megamind takes the established beats and tropes of the superhero movie and skews them, much in the same way The Incredibles did six years ago. Indeed, the influence of that film hangs around Megamind like a bad smell – the true villain of the piece is almost indistinguishable from The Incredibles’ Syndrome and the film asks similar questions of its protagonist: when you have achieved the goals you set out to accomplish in life, what do you do next?

Megamind treads far from fresh territory then, but offers a healthy dose of humour to compensate. After taking a few scenes to hit its stride, Megamind offers a choice selection of tasty Will Ferrell comedy nuggets. His brand of improvisational, over-the-top, zany humour is tailored perfectly to the character of an egocentric super villain. David Cross (perhaps best known for his excellent turn as analyst/therapist – ‘or “analrapist”, if you will’, Dr Tobias Funke in superlative sitcom Arrested Development) is also given plenty of time to shine and the banter between he and Ferrell is grand. Pitt is predictably well-cast in his role as the annoyingly perfect Metro Man.

There is perhaps an argument that Ferrell is at his most consistently amusing when aiming his comedic crosshairs at a slightly younger audience (see also: Elf). In his more adult comedies, Ferrell seems to irritate as many as he amuses, but in Megamind you get a sense of his true, crowd-pleasing potential. That’s not to say I’d want to see him doing nothing but family comedies from now on; far from it. Megamind is simply evidence that the man has such an acute grasp of the funny bone, he could easily be turning out inferior fare in his sleep.

Credit is surely due then for Megamind, a film that is as likely to appeal to mum, dad and the sprogs as it is to the unruly fifteen year olds at the back of the cinema, which is no mean feat. A very decent, if not overly original comedy that very few should take against.