RUDO Y CURSI
4 out of 5 stars

continuing on with world cup fever in jinaleeandmovies land… ;)


such brotherly "love" in this flick about 2 futbol-crazy brothers longing to make it big in the world of mexican soccer. rudo and cursi are only their nicknames, but they sure do act accordingly... rudo (diego luna) is super competitive, vicious, and one hell of a goalkeeper. he's constantly bickering with his brother (gael garcia bernal) who is romantic, funny, loves to sing, and is one hell of a forward. they end up playing on rival teams, but you get a glimpse of their mundane lives working on a mexican banana ranch prior to their stardom! how they get to mexico city to play soccer is all pure chance. a soccer agent/talent scout gets a flat tire right where they're about to play a game, and just like that, baton the talent scout signs cursi. rudo, of course, gets extremely jealous to the point he steals his family's life savings to catch a bus to mexico city! (ay ya ya!)

for those of you in need of translation: rudo means rough-edged and cursi means cornball and i think it's a term of affection for someone cute? (comeon, gael is pretty cute...) they are lots of hilarious scenes esp. when the brothers are bickering with one another, when their sister weds the local "businessman" whom they're convinced is a druglord, baton the talent scout and his string-pulling antics... carlos cuaron (brother of alfonso) directs this comedy about brothers and the "love" they share...which in this case is futbol! i really enjoyed this, even with english subtitles, because the humor is real, lots of ad-libbing, and plus what's to hate about cursi? he can serenade me anytime with his accordion! (although he's a pretty bad singer... :P)

p.s. check out the scene with the music video cursi stars in... (his cover of cheap trick's i want you to want me) if you need a good laugh, this one would do it...