Rudo y Cursi
Carlos Cuarón
2008, Canana, Cha Cha Cha , Esperanto, Focus, Anhelo, Universal
103 minutes (Spanish with English subtitles)
LATAMROB rating: ***
DREAMS can get in the way of reality, and nowhere is this more so than in the world of professional football. To Mexican half brothers Beto (Diego Luna) and Tato (Gael García Bernal), football may offer a way out of rural hardship on a banana plantation, but may not in fact prove to be the way to achieve their real ambitions. The pair – nicknamed Rudo (rough) and Cursi (corny) – form the central tension that makes this movie by Carlos Cuarón both humorous and touching. The chemistry between Luna and García Bernal makes for an intoxicating sibling rivalry. Both play out the inevitable process of self-destruction followed by realisation and reconstruction with consummate skill. – EC
