Film Review: 'Rudo y Cursi' is charming buddy movie from Mexico

Derided as "hicks" by the sophisticates of Mexico City, Rudo (Diego Luna, left) and Cursi (Gael García Bernal) surprise everyone by becoming pro soccer stars.Ivonne VenegasSony Pictures Classics

An extremely winning sports-themed comedy from Mexico, "Rudo y Cursi" -- "y" is the Spanish word for "and" -- reunites Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, the charismatic stars of the superb 2001 film, "Y Tu Mamá También." This may not mean much to the average reader of this review, but Bernal and Luna are a wonderful team, in addition to being two of the most popular Latin actors of their generation (Bernal is 30, Luna is 29), and they help make this film pretty much a delight.

Derided as "hicks" by the sophisticates of Mexico City, Rudo (Diego Luna, left) and Cursi (Gael García Bernal) surprise everyone by becoming pro soccer stars.Ivonne VenegasSony Pictures Classics

Written and directed by Carlos Cuarón (who wrote "Y Tu Mamá" with that film's director, his brother Alfonso Cuarón, who went on to helm "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" and "Children of Men"), "Rudo y Cursi" casts Bernal and Luna as underachieving, somewhat combative half-brothers in small-town rural Mexico. Members of the "peasant" class, Beto (Luna) is the married foreman of a banana ranch, while Tato (Bernal) dreams of being a pop singer. They spend much of their free time arguing, ducking abusive relatives, drinking beer and playing in a local soccer league.

Their fantasies of a better life come true, unexpectedly, when they are recruited into the professional soccer system of Mexico City after a chance meeting with a passing scout, Batuta (Guillermo Fancella), a semi-corrupt exploiter of naive talent who also functions as the film's wise but cynical narrator. Older than their new teammates but naturally gifted, Beto, a goalie, becomes known as "Rudo" (which translates as "rough"), while pretty boy Tato, a striker, is nicknamed "Cursi" (which means "prissy" and "cheesy," more or less).

Derided as "hicks" by the sophisticates of Mexico City ("even a monster has its charms," Batuto says of the ravenous metropolis), Rudo y Cursi surprise everyone by becoming stars, a development that transforms the film into a combination cornpone comedy/cautionary fairy tale. Cursi becomes a flashy dresser, big spender, would-be pop star (he records a cover of Cheap Trick's "I Want You to Want Me") and babe magnet. Rudo takes to gambling. Eventually, their screw-ups force a brother-vs.-brother showdown on the soccer field.

"Rudo y Cursi" easily could be remade in English, with baseball or basketball substituting for soccer. The brothers are, essentially, hillbillies, and their ignorance provides the basis for much of the comedy. (His success with the ladies aside, Cursi could be Jethro Bodine's Latin cousin.) But the film sympathizes with its heroes, and so will the viewer.

In Spanish with English subtitles, "Rudo y Cursi" is at Malco's Ridgeway Four.

-- John Beifuss, 529-2394

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