Rudo Y Cursi Review

On paper, Rudo Y Cursi should be the summation of Mexican cinema's recent new wave. Directors Alfonso Cuarón ( Y Tu Mamá También ), Guillermo Del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) and Alejandro González-Iñárritu (Amores Perros) swept up from the south to reinvigorate Hollywood with an irresistible Latin-infused blend of gritty realism, soaring fantasy and visual panache, swiping some of its biggest blockbusters (Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban for Cuaron, Hellboy, soon The Hobbit for Del Toro) and A-list award fodder (Iñárritu's Babel) in the process. And they didn't need no stinkin' badges to do it either; just talent and cojones.

So when these 'Three Amigos' launch their new production company Cha Cha Cha here, starring the Mexico's two genuine international breakout actors, Mama's boys - and best buds - Luna and Bernal, in a broad, crowd-pleasing comedy about two squabbling brothers from that film's co-writer, Alfonso's own younger brother, Carlos, the scene is set for a triumphant family-style reunion. However if Rudo Y Cursi had been at the vanguard of the Mexican wave, we'd be talking about a trickle rather than a torrent, a wetback frog-marched back across the border before he'd even gotten going.

Luna and Bernal's Beto and Tato are squabbling country bumpkin banana merchants, given apposite nicknames of 'Rudo' (tough) and 'Cursi' (corny). Beto/'Rudo' is a feisty hotheaded young father with a penchant, but not much skill, for gambling; Tato/'Cursi' is a vacant dreamer with the longing, but little actual talent, to become a musician. What they share is a love of football - the taller Beto a fearsome goalkeeper, Tato a nimble goal-poacher - which is awkward, when a passing talent scout Baton (Francella) offers just one of them a professional trial.

The penalty kick decider and its reconfiguring for the film's climax is one of the few nice twists so it won't be revealed here. Besides, soon both lads end up playing and succeeding in the Mexican leagues. Yet for two such dimwits in the predatory shark tank of Mexico City, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, both for their teams and for themselves, is as inevitable as living up to their unflattering nicknames.