User reviews

In 2001, Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna starred in Y tu mama tambien, a film I would place in the top ten for this decade. Their dynamic on screen was palpable. The combination of a their performances as well as a gripping story from the Cuaron brothers, Carlos and Alfonso. Alfonso directed the film and went on to direct Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Children of Men, the latter being a gem. Now, Carlos has taken the reigns as director for his first feature with Rudo y Cursi.

He reuintes with his Y tu mama stars Bernal and Luna, who have had stellar careers since 2001. Here they play brothers in a small Mexican town who dream of one day leaving and making it big. Beto (Luna) wants to become the greatest goalie in the country while Tato (Bernal) wants to be a singer, but can play soccer better than he can sing. They are discovered by Batuta (Guillermo Francella) during one of their games and offers one of them the chance of a life time: to become a professional football player. The scene to decide who gets to go is one of the best in the film, so I won't ruin it.

The majority of the film centers on the two brothers trying to fulfill their dreams but struggling along the way with gambling, women, and the sport they love. What I love so much about this film are the characters of Beto and Tato. They are so developed. You can tell exactly what their life has been life without knowing too much about them. They are simple folk and talk as such, regardless of how rich or destitute they become. Cuaron makes this unbelievable story as believable as possible, throwing the characters curveballs, much as life does.

Luna and Bernal work so well together. They look nothing alike yet I believe that they are brothers here. There is a scene where Luna is very upset with his brother and venting about it to his wife, but when she chimes in and talks down about Bernal, Luna tells her not to speak about his brother like that. It's the little things that they do that give their characters depth and feeling.

Cuaron uses narration throughout the course of the film, much like he did with Alfonso in Y tu mama tambien. This narrator however has an identity (Batuta) while in the other film it is anonymous. I think I would have liked it better that way or simply done without. The anonymous narrator can bring some interesting details and histories to the story, almost like watching a documentary. This narrating is bias and doesn't get quite as personal. It could have been dealt with in a better manner.

Although Carlos has been involved with several movies, I was very impressed with his directorial debut. Some people are born screenwriters, but step behind the camera and things fall apart. Luckily for us Carlos is multi talented like his brother. There are some very nice scenes here with solid camera work. One particular shot of the two brothers sitting across from each other at a table was beautiful in my opinion.

After the film was over and the credits began to roll, I happened to notice the names under the "Produced by" title. They were Alfonso Cuaron, Alejandoro Gonzalez Inarritu, and Guillermo Del Toro. They recently made a production company called Cha Cha Cha films. These three filmmakers won world wide acclaim in 2006 when they each released brilliant pieces of cinema. Cuaron with Children of Men, Inarritu with Babel, and Del Toro with Pan's Labyrinth. A pretty impressive threesome to have on your film's credits. I was impressed.

Rudo y Cursi is a very satisfying film for those who aren't looking for a typical story. Some might get mad at the ending but that's understandable. Such is life. Not everybody can be happy. I guess that's the film's underlying message that if you accept what life has dealt you, happiness will come to you.

I saw this at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The two main characters are brothers and polar opposites in terms of the roles they have. One being fun, jokey laughable while the other is more gritty, serious and intense. Depending on who was on screen, the story weaved from pleasing comedy to suspenseful drama. The movie is based around the 2 brothers being plucked from banana plantation obscurity into footballing limelight but this is by no means a movie about football. It's more about the the brothers yearning for fame and fortune and their determination to provide better lives for their loved ones. The directors and actors were present at the screening and asked the audience to watch this "not as a foreign movie but simply as a movie." With that in mind, don't go to see this looking for strong statement about Mexico City, go and see it for the story and acting itself.

Well... BEFORE jumping into this Mexican Offering....

FIRST: Let us FOCUS on the Title's Content and Context:

What great expectations I had for this film! And why not? Most of the Mexican films I've seen this year have received a well-deserved 4 Stars! Besides, this film boasts a redux of the pairing of Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, who starred together in "Y Tu Mama También". Remember the great portrayals they rendered in that film? The great on-screen chemistry they exhibited!?!

"RUDO" begins with the title characters as brothers; well, half brothers, anyway, working on a banana plantation in rural Mexico. RUDO started out OK, although most of the funnier bits were rooted in the cultural regional oddities demonstrated in the congenial non-stop string of obscenities and insults the two brothers hurled at each other.

I don't have to read subtitles in Spanish, but for those who do, I would imagine a lot of the humor would be lost because of them, and also because these regional cultural quirks are naturally lost in translation! As RUDO progressed, I increasingly became aware that my expectations were not going to be met. Like genetically engineered bananas...You know, the ones that take forever to ripen!... RUDO was picked too soon and served up green! The movie is funny and amusing, at times, but could have been a hell of a lot better, if everybody hadn't been so forced, if they all hadn't TRIED SO hard...to be funny!

If they ALL hadn't been so stressed, I could have forgiven that RUDO's basic premise revolves around two 30-ish banana ranch worker brothers, who play local soccer on weekends, suddenly becoming the BEST soccer players in all of Mexico! That's a lot of suspension-of-disbelief!

BTW...Don't miss the music video in Special Features...Las chicas Mexicanas try just hard enough! Barely limps in w/6*******.

BUT.... ANYWAYS.... ENJOY! / DIDFRITELA!

A really funny, refreshing and original Mexican movie.

It is the story of two adult brothers -nicknamed Rudo and Cursi- banana farmers and aficionado soccer players, who, after being discovered by a soccer manager, join the A league but each of them playing in different teams.

I don't like soccer, so I thought that the movie would be a bore, but I was surprised that it did not bore me at all. The story is very well told with great sense of humor and lightness. Even the football scenes were engaging and very entertaining. The many twists and turns of the story, the drama and humor, the national self-deprecation, the passions and hatred of the characters are all presented in a very dynamic, sweet and light way. The movie really flows, has a great atmosphere, great characters and is very enjoyable.

The history of the peasant or working class young man who rises to the top in the world of sports or entertainment only to fall due to betrayal and/or addiction has been told many times before, but this movie from the team of "Y Tu Mama Tambien" feels new and dynamic. Compelling, funny, insightful, fast-paced, philosophical, moving, this tale of two brothers who are able to leave their banana-picker job to become major league football stars in Mexico City is fresh and exciting.

With a vibrant cinematography, an unflinching look at the Mexican realities of the marginally-living rural laborer class and the world of professional football with its egos, deals, and fame, we are presented with a large incisive, ironic slice of Mexican life. Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna as usual disappear into their roles this time as the competing brothers who are not prepared to hit the big time. Poverty, machismo, football fanaticism, gambling, sex, cocaine, family problems, shady people are shown as colorful and obscene as the language used by characters. The scenes are fluid and entertaining; it may be a drama but it is also a fun comedy and totally life-affirming. To top it all, there is a great music video with Garcia Bernal doing Van Halen's "I Want you to Want me" as a ranchera in Spanish. In the end, the movie even at 103 minutes feels perhaps too brief leaving one wishing for more.

"Rudo y Cursi" reaffirms the talents of director Carlos Cuaron, Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna.

It is a very good Mexican movie about soccer and fame; the plot is fun and the acting is excellent; I highly recommend it.

I just screened this new flick out of Mexico at the Sundance 09' Premiere. I went into the movie very pleased to see the two ultra talents Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna reunited on screen with the filmmakers that brought us the classic Y tu Mama Tambien. Luna and Bernal are tremendous actors and their chemistry on screen is evident from the start, and throughout the movie they bring life to the two main characters Beto (Luna) and Toto (Bernal). Beto is rough, tough, and determined, Toto is unassuming, curious and also determined though in a more naive way. The story follows the two brothers lives as they go from "hick" banana farmers to professional futbol stars. The strength of the movie is in the diversity of the two brothers transition from nobodies to somebodies and how one brother embraces the fame and all its opportunities while the other is unable to leave behind his reckless habits. The background to the brotherly chaos is the insanity of the Mexican futbol league that is corrupt,cutting and beautiful at the same time. The rise to fame is glorious, but what must go up must come down. The weakness of the film is ultimately the sudden downturn which may be, as the director later told the audience, true to the Mexican way, but this truth hurts the film when it needs a golden ball to lift its spirits. In this day and time, why not give a little hope, a little success to those who would hope to succeed even though they can't help but screw it up? To each his own, but the pay off is not nearly as sweet, and not nearly as meaningful as one would hope for the two brothers.

Rudo y Cursi it's a great movie that reunites the Charolastras Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna in a modern comedy that deals with many world and Mexican themes such as: Machism, Narcotrafic, Brotherhood and Gambling. While the movie has some downsides, its almost perfect script, photography, directing, and the good chemistry between García Bernal and Luna makes it really enjoyable and funny.

The film is directed by Alfonso cuarón's brother and writer of "Y tu mamá También", Carlos Cuarón who makes a great job with the movie, taking us to a wide range of emotions while keeping an above all upbeat feeling to it. Another thing that stands out from this movie is its soundtrack which combines in a double CD both Mexican Folklore Music and a modernized counterpart of some traditional songs by modern Mexican bands.

This Movie is the first film produced by Cha Cha Cha Films, an enterprise formed by the Mexican Directors Guillermo del Toro, Alejandro González Iñarritu and Alfonso Cuarón, enterprise that will without a doubt keep growing Mexican cinema.

If you liked "Y tu mamá también" (2001) you will definitely be pleased by Rudo y Cursi.

The film is disoriented in it's own premise does it want to be a drama, comedy or sports film?

Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal do a very good job but the script is uneven in tone losing itself on what it attempts to be. Is it a comedy? I'd say no because the characters are like terrible foreign imitators of what a"Mexican" is which isn't even funny despite the small laughs and chuckles being for only the wrong reasons. Would it be a drama then? No, do to the fact they're morons and ignorant with egocentric minds and toxic attitudes leading them to eventually losing their own fame making any connections or empathy towards them meaningless. Well if not those then it's a sports film being central to the plot shown for the most part? Not at all, there's barely any even the ones that "show" the sport doesn't have the leads playing except for a penalty kick. The film is watchable but fails to deliver in almost everything.

Two siblings rival each other inside the world of professional soccer.

This film is marketed as being from the creators of "Y Tu Mama Tambien", which is not only true but very wise marketing. But let us not be fooled, this film is not on the same level, even if it looks just as good and has the same folks involved.

Aspects of it are quite good, and the Cheap trick karaoke is fairly amusing. But this rivalry of two soccer players is not very compelling. In "Mama", there was another rivalry between two young men, but that seemed more powerful. This is a situation where we feel no need to care about one or the other.

Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna struck fireworks with their 2001 'Y tu mamá también' directed be their close associate Carlos Cuarón. Now once again the three men, along with important input from some of the finest talent in Mexico, join in a low key, warmly humorous, well acted and directed and produced RUDO y CURSI. There has been considerable publicity about the movement to raise the importance of Mexican films to the high standards of International films, largely due to the passion of García Bernal, Luna, Cuarón, Alejandro González Iñárritu and Guillermo del Toro. The success of this movement is obvious in this very fine film - a tightly conceived story about the poor families in Mexico who long for the ability to climb the ladder to success in business, fame and comfort, and the Cinderella story recasting brothers played by García Bernal and Luna whose struggle for opportunity leads them into the bumpy relationship with a 'talent scout' (Batuta played with aplomb by the Argentinean actor Guillermo Francella) and to tenuous triumph because of their soccer talent and the inevitable temptations of success in the great Mexico City world.

García Bernal is Tato (to be nicknamed 'Cursi' by his teammates), a wannabe singer whose goal is to make it big in the world of entertainment, using Batuta as his means to get there. Luna is his brother Beto (to be nicknamed 'Rudo' - the alternate title of the film is 'ROUGH AND VULGAR' instead of 'RUDO y CURSI'!) who is married but longs to follow his brother into the fame of the Big League soccer. Each lad lands in Mexico City, each takes advantage of his given soccer talent and each succumbs to personal goals - Rudo to gambling and Cursi to women and singing in silly music videos. Batuto is always on the sidelines (and in the voice over narration) to follow each of brother's successes and failures. The manner in which the two brothers compete and come together creates a moving and tender story ending.

What makes this little film so special is the genuine qualities and ensemble acting that come from García Bernal and Luna but also form the actors portraying the impoverished but proud family of the two boys and the 'big town characters' they encounter in Mexico City. The film feels real and committed, mixing just the right amount of humor, fantasy, and tenderness - thanks to the excellent script by writer/director Carlos Cuarón. It is a pleasure to watch and a very fine statement about the quality of films coming from Mexico.

Grady Harp

"Rudo y Cursi" is about two brothers that are plucked from obscurity in a small village in Mexico to play professional soccer. One is a striker and the other is a goalie. But drop any notion that this story has much to do with the actual sport of soccer. It's much more about success and what this does to people. And even in that regard its fairly clichéd -- one brother gets a sexy girlfriend who makes him buy cars for her and the other brother gambles his money away. By the end of the story their money is gone and they aren't even any wiser. So what's the point? Rudo y Cursi is obscene and cynical, frantic, funny and somehow disturbing. Lots of loud music and quick cutting and jittery camera work. There are some great performances in it and the locations are outstanding. It captures the look, feel and smell of Mexico. But you walk out thinking the world is a rotten place and people are pretty horrible.

Rudo y cursi may be actually one of the greatest Mexican movies i've ever seen, it has great acting, great cinematography and a good script.. This movie is funny in every way and very touching at the same time, I'm Mexican and I don't like Mexican movies that much but this one really did make me laugh, it may the best Mexican movie in the last three years, but I'f your not very aware of the people in Mexico you may not be able to find it that funny, so first I recommend you learn some of the traditions in Mexico, then you go and enjoy this wonderful gem of a movie. Carlos Cuaron did an amazing Job i won't be surprise if in a few years he gets well recognize in the movie business like his brother Alfonso Cuaron. All in all great movie through if you are from Mexico go see it, you'll love it..

Tato (Gael Garcia) is a striker and Beto (Diego Luna) is the goalkeeper of a small Mexican town football club. They're half-brothers working at a banana plantation. Their extended family scratches out a living until a soccer scout spots their play. There is one spot on a premier club and the brothers decide to choose by penalty kick. The brothers eventually get on rival teams gaining success and troubles.

For me, this is another piece of evidence that comedy doesn't always translate. It's only the broadest of slapstick that is universal in terms of comedy. Language and cultural differences make it almost country-specific. I see the parts where the movie is trying to be funny. The homoerotic hazing is very broad. However, it doesn't actually get me to laugh.

In his debut as director someone could expect something more from Cuaron especially if we see starring Gael Garcia and Diego Luna this time as two province ingenuous brothers, amateur futbol players who are tempted for a kind of mercenary scout,played by the Argentine actor Guillermo Francella(exceptional in this role)to try their luck at Mexico City in a Professional team,the movie plays with different situations around the futbol business ,some of them very attached with the reality ,for example that the agents of the futbol players make a lot of money and become the futbol in a very expensive show, the agents have to spread some money to trainers and others in order to their player could have the opportunity to play,some of these points I guess Cuaron could be advised by Hector Gonzalez Iñarritu, Director of Mexican Futbol Federation and brother of Alejandro Gonzalez one of the producers of the film,about these facts difference others very far of the reality as futbol Players begin their career at their thirty and without experience even in amateur competition Aside these points the movie result very entertaining as the way of Garcia and Luna develop their characters although sometimes Luna overact especially his way to speak, sounds like "Ponchito" the personage of Andres Bustamante famous in TV,besides Gael make funny his perform of singer despite of his awful interpretation, a kind of parody of Valentin Elizalde,unlike others very pretentious characters that he plays in different films,the movie got a very good reward in ticket offices mostly because of its starring couple

This 2008 film from the newly formed film production company of Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna follows two brothers (played by García Bernal and Luna) who get caught up in fame and an extreme case of sibling rivalry. Starting out as banana farmers they are discovered by a talent agent and begin to play professional soccer. They are swept away by fame and it eventually takes over their lives.

I must confess that I was expecting something a little bit better, especially coming from such big names such as García Bernal and Luna. The plot line is interesting but the characters themselves were somewhat annoying. García Bernal's Cursi and Luna's Rudo are both overly immature – they fight with each other and whine when they don't get their way, even though they are grown men! It seems like there is no depth to the characters and it is hard to find any redeeming qualities.

The only deeper meaning to be found throughout the movie comes in the form of a voice- over commentary made by the talent scout at various points throughout the movie making comparison between life and the game of soccer. I get the connections, but the movie is still lacking some serious character development.

This Mexican film follows two working class brothers who are catapulted into fame when they become soccer stars. Their skills as footballers are obvious, but the heights of fame, as we are often told, can come with a price. One brother seems to handle it better, whilst the other discovers drugs and gambling.

It's perhaps a story we have seen before in one guise or another and this felt very formulaic. I just couldn't be get involved in the story because of this. I might not be a sports fan or indeed a soccer fan, but whilst I'm sure you would enjoy the film slightly more if you were, the film isn't so much about the football, but about the brothers and their rise and fall.

The film looks good, it's beautifully shot and there are quite nice performances from the leads, Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal, who lets face it is always good and cute as well, but for me there wasn't enough depth to the story which seemed to skim through the motions leaving me unsatisfied. The highlight is the video of Gael Garcia Bernal singing some cheesy pop song.

More of my reviews at iheartfilms.weebly.com

It is a movie that in its glory years was a boom, that is, everyone wanted to see this movie on television, the premiere was a great success and we definitely all talked about it, but that was it.

After a while the main song of the movie became super famous as a meme or as a regional Mexican hit, which I find interesting because it was a parody of that genre.

Returning to the film, it was not the best film in the history of the national cinema library, I think it was more the success it had because of the people who appeared in it and because of everything it promised at that time.

In summary, I do not propose nor do I want to give spoilers but I think it is a movie that can entertain you for a while, until you realize the potential that the main actors have and that is all the positive thing I can say, the movie has its story and it's entertaining.