Casa de mi Padre (2012)

Now, this is a real novelty. Here is a mainstream American movie that only is almost entirely in a foreign language, but stars an American actor who specifically learned to speak the language for the film. That language is Spanish, which half the country can speak anyway, and that actor is Will Ferrell, who doesn't usually seem to put this much effort into his acting. Alright, I shouldn't be so rude. Ferrell stars as a young Mexican who is trying to save his family's name from the humiliation that his brother is a drug dealer. His brother also wishes to marry the girl that he loves and his father's ranch is in danger of being overthrown by a powerful drug lord who has it in for them. And it's all in Spanish. And it's all very stupid.

I just didn't get it. I watched the movie out of interest founded by the idea of a foreign-language American movie, and was particularly interested to see how Ferrell would handle it. That was nothing I needed to worry about. Ferrell does remarkably well in his Spanish-speaking role, although he is a bit stiff on occasion. The problem here is that there's no real reason for the movie to be in Spanish. The whole thing is a big joke, like it's a parody of some genre I'm not familiar with. Maybe it's making fun of bad b-movies in general, or, more specifically, Mexican ones. If someone like me isn't familiar with an entire genre, than why would the general public? If the movie isn't making fun of anything in particular, then why are the jokes so specific to the running gag that this is a very bad movie? I've come to think that the movie itself may be the joke. I have heard it described as an extended SNL skit. I can see that, although an effort to inspire luaghter that is actually relevant to the story may have made the movie the least bit funny. Instead, the plot runs with full-steam seriousness, while self-aware movie-related gags are thrown in willy-nilly.

An entire scene exists for the punchline that the camera zooms in on a man's sunglasses, revealing a reflection of the film crew. Another scene depicts a drug-like dream sequence featuring a puppet of a tiger that is poorly lip-synched to dubbed dialogue and Ferrell dancing about like an idiot. What is the purpose of this doggone movie? I feel like it could have been something I would have enjoyed if it had been a fully-serious homage, as in Grindhouse, or the no holds barred ridiculous comedy Ferrell would usually star in. As it is, I can't imagine anybody finding something to like. It's just too weird, too unexplainably out there. If you or someone you know did enjoy Casa de mi Padre, please leave a comment. I want to know why.

4/10