Casa de mi Padre

With me living in the US all my life, I haven't seen any movies that have come from other countries. Granted, I have witnessed much of Japan's work for a long time now, but not much from the others. Sure, some films will get an opportunity to get into theaters, but not that much range on it. So today, we take a look at the newest Spanish comedy, "Casa de mi Padre".

The film is about a rancher named Armando, played by Will Ferrell, who's mother had died and he never gotten the respect his father owes him. While getting cattle, he and his friends witnesses a murder from a drug dealer named Onza, and tells his brother, Raul, about it. After talking to Raul's fiance, Sonia, Armando finds out his brother's a drug dealer to Americans, and is told by the police to deal with Onza. While this is going on, Armando starts to realize his true feelings for Sonia. Now, never seeing a Spanish film before, some of the jokes in it, I didn't catch on very well. I kind of felt like I was watching a Spanish SNL sketch, just without most of the cast. But still, was it a good movie?...I guess, but like "Chronicle," I have very mixed feelings about that movie, leaving my choice about it in the very middle. It also felt like this movie was done in a 70's style, just done in today's timeline.

The cast did a good job though. I liked Will Ferrell's performance as Armando, and it was really interesting to see him do a performance that's not like most of his work before. It felt a little like "Stranger Than Fiction," where he doesn't try to be funny, but does his work pretty seriously. Granted, this performance isn't AS good as "Stranger Than Fiction," but you know what I mean. Pedro Armendáriz, Jr, who you may remember as Don Pedro from "The Mask of Zorro" delivered a pretty good performance as the father, and showed a lot of energy as he did in that film. Sonia, played by Genesis Rodriguez, was...okay at best. She's said to have recently been in "Man on a Ledge," but I didn't see that. I also heard she will also be in "What to Expect When You're Expecting" and Schwarzenegger's next staring role film, "The Last Stand," so maybe she'll be better in that. I also enjoyed the guy who played Raul, and he really did give a few laughs. The two friends of Armando, Esteban and Manuel, were also enjoyable, and when they do their little band scene, it's pretty funny.

Overall, if you're into seeing something different from Will Ferrell, then this could work. If you've also seen other Spanish films before, then maybe you'll find the bad edit jokes to be pretty funny. But, if you're expecting this to be like Will Ferrell's other good stuff, like "Stepbrothers" or "Elf," then I'd suggest waiting for "Dogfight" coming this August.

Rating: 3/5
6/10