BuzzSugar

Rudo y Cursi: Soccer, Fame, and Brotherhood

BuzzSugar — Sun, 10 May 2009 13:30:48 PDT

Written and directed by Carlos Cuarón, Rudo y Cursi is a quirky satire with a dark twist. The story follows two brothers named Beto (Diego Luna) and Tato (Gael García Bernal) on a familiar journey that takes them from humble roots on a banana farm all the way to professional soccer super-stardom.

Nearly seven years after Luna and García Bernal went road-tripping together in Y Tu Mamá También (also written by Cuarón and directed by his brother Alfonso) the two stars hardly look like they've aged and it's clear they had a good time reuniting on the set. However, while both actors deliver exuberant and forceful performances, their energy can't quite keep Cuarón's narrative on track. The result is a movie that is a joy to take in, but muddled in tone. To see what I mean,

read more. The boys are discovered by a talent scout named Batuta, who also narrates the film via voiceover. At first he can only take one of the brothers with him to Mexico City and he chooses Tato. Beto begrudgingly stays behind, tending to his wife and family, while Tato endures the brutal hazing practices of the soccer team. Eventually Beto does join his brother in the city and both become famous soccer players known by their nicknames Rudo and Cursi (roughly translated as tough and corny). The movie has many comedic moments that work well. For example, García Bernal's character is more interested in a singing career than soccer, and the video he shoots for his cover of "I Want You to Want Me" is completely awesome. But when Diego's character gets to the city and grapples with a gambling problem, the brothers' relationship is tested, and the movie starts to drag. This disturbing undertone to the film doesn't quite jibe with the tongue-in-cheek satirical tone of the first half of the movie. It's clear Cuarón has something to say about fate and love and even consumer culture, but his movie isn't executed quite well enough to figure out what that is. Still, the writing is witty and the tale is told with such vigor that you can't help but get swept away in it all.

Photos courtesy of Sony Picture Classics

Buzz Interview: Gael and Diego Reunite and It Feels So Good

BuzzSugar — Fri, 08 May 2009 05:30:56 PDT

I still remember the first time I saw Y Tu Mamá También and I became just slightly obsessed with the lead actors of the 2001 Mexican film. Since then, actors Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal have become global stars, and both have gone on to work with a variety of talented directors including Jim Jarmusch and Gus Van Sant.

Now the two are reuniting onscreen in Rudo y Cursi (opening today) as brothers from the countryside who are recruited to play professional soccer in the big city. I was lucky enough to sit down with them here in San Francisco to talk about acting together, why we don't actually see either of them play any soccer in a soccer movie, and Gael's singing voice. Here are some highlights:

On reuniting as actors for this movie:
Diego: Reuniting? It's just that it's . . . I mean, we're not reuniting.
Gael: It's not like Menudo . . .
Diego: It's not like Menudo reunited. Like we tried to go single and then we go "Oh man, no one's heard our music. Let's do another hit together." We've been working all those years, we have a company together, we have a film festival. I'm a producer of his films, he's a producer of mine. We've been collaborating a lot. But what's cool was, yeah, to be actors - just actors - again.

Lots more coming up, so

read more. On Y Tu Mamá También helping to start this decade's Mexican movie renaissance: Gael: There were other films also. Diego: There were, I think - and [Gael's] not going to say it - I think it was Amores Perros. I remember I was in Cannes the year of Amores Perros and just watching what was happening and just saying, "F*ck this is new. This is different. This has not happened with a Mexican film." And that happened a year before Y Tu Mamá También. I think Amores Perros was really the one that opened the doors for this kind of new talent that was coming out from Mexico. In the movie, the camera often cuts away from the soccer field and as a result we don't see either Gael or Diego really play. I asked them if they wanted to play soccer onscreen in this movie: Diego: Look at us? Come on. That is a very smart decision [the director] Carlos [Cuarón] made. We were thinking there is not a single film that is good that shows [soccer] and Carlos has a theory that is because it's not very dramatic you know? It lasts for 90 minutes, there's no pauses, there's no moments like in American football, baseball, where you have the pitcher thinking and changing and making a choice every five seconds, you know? In [soccer] it just happens and it's beautiful as it is so you cannot break it. It would be stupid. Gael: When you see a film you want to see the emotional journey of the characters. You don't want to see the play strategy that they did. I asked if they decided which one of them would play Rudo and which would play Cursi based on singing because Gael's character does a lot of singing and even performs in a video: Diego: Obviously not! Gael: (Laughs) Carlos decided . . . Diego: Carlos was very smart. He wanted to change the dynamics of our relation[ship] and the relation[ship] we had in Y Tu Mamá También, so he decided to give me the older brother - I'm younger than Gael - and that did kind of affect the way we approached these characters and their relation[ship] and it made it a very different film. On making career choices: Diego: I do see many people in the States making their careers like that, saying, "OK I'll do a film with dogs - with real dogs! - and with kids! That'll get me an agent. That'll get me a publicist and they'll get me closer to the films I want to make." And sometimes that works. The cinema we shoot in Mexico is because the director really wants to tell one story and he's willing to give up everything and he gets his team. And the size of the movie depends a lot in how excited people get by reading the script. Gael: If you don't have Julie Roberts and you do it in Spanish then it does not take. That's why the stories in Latin America, the good ones, are the ones that don't obey any of these rules. It's an interesting moment when a film like Sin Nombre [a movie on which Gael and Diego were executive producers] with no well-known stars at all can be incredibly successful. There's no formula to Sin Nombre but it's proven to be a commercial success also, so that's fantastic. If we try to do a formula it for sure will fail. On working together again in the future: Diego: We talked about it and probably it's not going to happen soon. And if it happens soon might be more in theater. Gael: Yeah, something that's more easy for us to make with our hands because with films it requires a lot of people, a lot of money - Diego: - a lot of confidence! Rudo y Cursi photo courtesy of Sony Picture Classics and Source

Movie Preview: Rudo y Cursi

BuzzSugar — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:30:03 PDT

I talked a little bit about director Carlos Cuaron's comedy Rudo y Cursi when I was spotlighting movies to keep an eye on at the Sundance Film Festival, but at the time there was no trailer with English subtitles. Now there is, though, so I'm so excited to be able to share another look at this movie that reunites Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, the stars of 2001's Y Tu Mamá También.

I love each of these actors individually, and together they have great chemistry. In Rudo y Cursi they're two brothers who leave their small Mexican village to become soccer superstars and deal with all the repercussions that come with fame and fortune. The new trailer captures the touching and funny spirit of the movie (I've seen it - stay tuned for my review). Rudo y Cursi opens May 8, and to see what it's all about, just

2009 Sundance Spotlight: An Education and Rudo y Cursi

BuzzSugar — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 11:30:35 PST

While I won't be heading down to the 2009 Sundance Film Festival this year, I will be sorting through the humongous pile of festival entries to share with you some of the films I think look most promising. From quirky documentaries to talented young filmmaker debuts to a potential runaway hit, Sundance is filled with entertainment possibilities. Here are today's selections:

An Education
Actress Carey Mulligan is getting a lot of attention at Sundance this year, as she's promoting not one but two films that both are receiving good buzz. I've already mentioned one of those films, The Greatest, but the other film seems truly destined for big things: An Education. The cast includes Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, and Emma Thompson and the screenplay comes from About a Boy scribe Nick Hornby. The movie, about a girl coming of age in 1960s London, has already been picked up by Sony Pictures Classics and critics are raving.

A gallery of photos from this hot flick and a rundown of another big Sundance film follow after the jump. Just