Rudo and Cursi (Rudo y Cursi - 2009)

First time feature director Carlos Cuarón, brother of Alfonso (they co-wrote Y tu mamá también (2001), which Alfonso directed, and were Oscar-nominated for the screenplay, among much recognition) brings back together the stars of Y tu mamá, Gael García Bernal (good ones: Amores Perros (2000), El Crimen del Padre Amaro (2002), Che Guevara in The Motorcycle Diaries (2004), a strange kid named Elvis in The King (2005), and King of Ward Three in Blindness) and Diego Luna (I liked Before Night Falls (2000), Frida (2002) and Milk; Amy liked Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004)) in this amusing tale of two soccer-playing brothers. Luna plays Beto, nicknamed Rudo, which means rough, and Bernal plays Tato, nicknamed Cursi, which means corny (translations courtesy of Carlos in an interview). Third time was a charm for us on this one. We tried to see it locally, but a scheduling snafu stopped us. It came out on DVD a week later. We took the netflix DVD with us when we visited Jon & Kathleen in September (there's your blog-check, Jon!), but fell asleep. So today we finally watched it. This is not your usual sports movie: you will see more of the soccer, excuse me, futbol, fans than you will of the game. It is, as Carlos says, about brotherhood. As far as we could tell from the subtitles, the language is colorful--lots of insults and hazing. I read about the soundtrack long before the movie was distributed in this part of the country (and knew the song "I Want You to Want Me," which Cursi sings in Spanish, but didn't know it was Cheap Trick). Perhaps Carlos needs some seasoning as a director, but it was still entertaining and worth seeing. Not for soccer players under 16, as it's rated R for language, drugs, and sex (not to mention gambling).