“It’s a
story about brotherhood made by brothers,” Carlos Cuarón prefaced the NY
premiere of his film, Rudo y Cursi on Sunday. Brotherhood is essential when
discussing Cuarón’s latest— his own brother, Alfonso, directed Gael Garcia
Bernal and Diego Luna in Y Tu Mamá También (which the two Cauróns co-wrote) eight
years ago. Now, Bernal and Luna (“with less hair and more body fat,” said
Bernal) play brothers in Carlos’ film inspired by his own relationship with his
sibling. It’s one of those interconnected movie circles that makes you happy to
witness such an amiable role-reversed reunion.
While
Carlos hasn’t yet reached the same level of fame as his older brother (he did
direct a Harry Potter movie,
after all), Rudo y Cursi is a satiric thrill. Now almost a decade beyond the
coming-of-age setting of Y Tu Mamá, this story renders a postmodern look at
all the implicit “brotherly” relations by way of an abundance of winning
self-mockery. For starters, Beto “Rudo” (Luna) and Tato “Cursi” (Bernal) work
on a banana plantation in the Mexican countryside. While Rudo dreams of
becoming a famous soccer goalie, Cursi envisions himself as a pop star king.
Amazingly, the impoverished boys soon realize their dreams: the boys are
invited to join national soccer teams, become flooded by fame and wealth, and
Cursi even gets a recording contract. Soon enough, Rudo develops a gambling
addiction, cares for a pet monkey and has a goalie record to break, while Cursi
falls for his whorish girlfriend, gets tacky blonde highlights and makes a
music video for his “hit” song, “Quiero que me Quieras” (a side-splitting
rendition of “I Want You to Want Me”).
My only
gripe with Cuarón’s tale, which constantly evokes "story-telling" through a narration
(by Guillermo Francella) interjecting corny-but-kitsch metaphors, is the final
culminating match between the brothers. In their ultimate game, Rudo stands as
goalie with the chance to break a national record while Cursi prepares to kick the ball with
his entire reputation on the line. For minutes, motion is at a standstill in
this all-too-familiar moment of suspense, which will completely determine the
narrative’s end. The problem is that Cuarón’s film is not really about soccer, but he confuses this plot device by lingering
on the game for too long. Luckily, the audience can see through these
artificial game-life metaphors and understand the brothers’ naively droll
relationship without the outcome of this fateful goal.
The two men in Rudo y Cursi certainly have come a long way since their sexual (and self) discoveries in 2001, but for a laughable turn. While you could mark the film as contrived, silly or shallow, you'd be hard-pressed to deny its moments of pure comic brilliance. Plus, it’s already the highest grossing film in Mexican history—and that has to count for something.
Recommended: Yes
Look out for: Silly and cliched plotlines
