Will Ferrell has starred in some exceedingly odd comedies, but he's never made one as flat-out bizarre as "Casa de mi Padre."
The fact that the entire film is in Spanish, and Ferrell plays a Mexican named Armando, are two of the tamest elements in the movie. There are much, much stranger things in store, from a wedding massacre in which the shot-gunned guests spout ridiculous fountains of blood, to a mystical Bengal tiger (played by an awesome stuffed animal) who becomes Armando's Yoda.
"Casa de mi Padre" spoofs telenovelas and grindhouse B-movies with a plot that involves Armando falling in love with the woman (Genesis Rodriguez) engaged to marry his brother (Diego Luna).
The film's silliness tickles you. But without Ferrell's ability to improvise his dialogue on the spot, the stretches of exposition are dull, bordering on tedious, and even a sex scene played for laughs pushes the joke too long.
"Casa de mi Padre"
ADVERTISEMENT
Fargo Theatre
In Spanish with English subtitles.
Rated R for vulgar language, violence, gore, nudity, sexual situations, adult themes
85 minutes
2½ stars out of four
