CASA DE MI PADRE is a cute, high concept comedy that almost certainly wouldn't have been made on even this modest scale without the involvement of Will Farrell. Totally in Spanish (with English sub-titles for those who are sans fluency), PADRE sends up a genre of Mexican melodrama with which I frankly do not have much familiarity. But it's not too hard to keep up, between the cheap backdrops, silly props, and florid acting complete with many tight close-ups of eyeballs.
Farrell plays Armando, one of four sons of a wealthy rancher. Sadly one of the rancher's sons have become a "narco"/drug dealer, bringing a world of hurt down on the family. Armando is also a coward who must find his courage to win the love of a beautiful woman.
I think what I like best about PADRE is that most of the humor is silly, as opposed to mean or snarky. It's not roll on the floor funny, but there are many smiles and Farrell is fun to watch. If Mel Gibson's Gringo had shown up for a cameo, it could have been the perfect movie...
2 comments:
Wait. If you're in Toronto, how are you watching all these films. I see a lot of films and I don't think I've seen these in the cinema. Are you renting? Did you bring a bunch of DVDs to watch in your hotel? Are you making fast friends with collectors of rare DVDs during your web series filming?
Just curious. If you are into renting, there's this place called "Bay Street Video" on Bay Street, just south of Bloor that has an amazing collection, but they don't display older titles very easily; they're stacked like books, so you can't peruse old releases visually, but have to flip through them. Lots of stuff, though, and some of the guys there are BSG fans.
I have no idea if you're interested, but there's a Pablo Picasso special exhibit at Toronto's Art Gallery of Ontario; obviously, Canada's art museums aren't close in quality to your country's (and they charge quite a bit more), but it's a thought. I just went again today and enjoyed it quite a bit more than when I first went a month ago.
http://www.ago.net/
Also, Toronto and Montreal are known for their Greek food; a lot of Greek restaurants are on Danforth Avenue. I like Mezes, personally, but I'm not a Greek food afficionado like my brother, who insists that Canada has better Greek food than the US, especially Montreal.
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