A dark comic fable from the other Cuarón
You can take Beto (Diego Luna), left, and Tato (Gael García Bernal) off the banana farm, but you can't make 'em behave in Mexico City. (Sony Pictures Classics)
Rudo y Cursi
Running time: 102 minutes
MPAA rating: R (profanity, adult situations, drugs)
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Playful and darkly comic, "Rudo y Cursi" shouldn't just be thought of as the film that reunites Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna.
Hopefully, this hard-hitting fable from Mexico will be recalled as the first feature-film directing effort from Oscar-nominated screenwriter Carlos Cuarón.
In Spanish with subtitles, "Rudo y Cursi" ("Tough and Corny" for non-Spanish speakers) makes the most out of the natural chemistry between the two childhood friends who shared the screen in "Y tu mamá también" ("And Your Mother Too") in 2001. Carlos's older brother Alfonso ("Children of Men") directed that one. The Cuarón brothers shared the screenplay Academy Award nomination.
"Rudo y Cursi" doesn't quite cast the same kind of magical cinematic spell of "Y tu mamá también."
What it does do, however, is reinforce two notions: Bernal ("Babel," "Bad Education") and Luna ("Milk," "Frida") do ooze extraordinary, natural ease when they share a screen. Secondly, Carlos Cuarón should venture into the directing chair again soon.
Beto (Luna) and Tato (Bernal) work on a banana farm in a small Mexican village. Both have dreams of leaving their dusty rural life behind and both excel at soccer. When a soccer talent scout (Comedian Guillermo Francella of Argentina) drops by, he offers to take Tato under his wing and get him on a professional team in Mexico City. The plot thickens when Beto gets his shot as well.
Since what Cuarón, who penned his own script, is building here is a dark comic fable, what Tato really wants to do is become a big singing star, even though his talent is marginal at best.
Uneven in tone at times (alternating between comedy and crime-drama), "Rudo y Cursi" wisely doesn't spend much screen time on a soccer field.
So don't go if all you're after is a sports comedy. Cuarón's initial effort with total control as writer and director speaks more of the human condition. And the condition of these humans is pretty out-of-bounds at times.
Cuarón is still gaining confidence as a director. I'll look forward to his sophomore effort.
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