This is the movie that’s otherwise known as “Will Ferrell’s Spanish language debut,” in which he plays a Mexican rancher in a love triangle with his brother for the sexy niece (Genesis Rodriguez) of a major drug trafficker.
What Works: Okay, so this movie is a big-time gamble and even if you don’t think it’s entirely successful, you have to give Ferrell major props for taking such a risk. Off the top of my head, I can think of NO entirely-subtitled Spanish language movie from any big American comedy star…well, pretty much ever. So you have to admire Ferrell for doing something Adam Sandler or Eddie Murphy or Ben Stiller would never dream of doing. Also, the joke in this movie is so subtle the movie is basically what it’s parodying, there’s a razor wire between a real cheesy Spanish movie and this satirization of one, and even though I appreciated such nuanced satire…the usual parody crowd isn’t going to go for this at all…
What Doesn’t Work: And Will Ferrell’s usual audience probably won’t either. I can’t see the frat house really lining up to read a movie, even one that’s only eighty minutes long. Plus, I could feel the audience get a little antsy for something truly hilarious to happen, and the jokes are more sly than laugh-out-loud funny. I would call this a very noble, exciting experiment…that may leave no one truly, truly satisfied.
What I Would Have Done Differently: To me it’s obvious that Will Ferrell would make a terrific dramatic actor. And I’m not talking about the quasi-funny “serious” roles he’s played in Stranger Than Fiction or the underrated Everything Must Go (which he was great in). I’d love to see him do something dead-serious like Adam Sandler has before (if even Sandler can be compelling in Punch Drunk Love or Reign of Fire then Ferrell surely has it in him too), and Casa Di Mi Padre is halfway there.