Stars:
*** 1/2
Rating: R for profanity,
brief violence and nudity
Run
Time: 1
hour, 43 minutes. In Spanish with English subtitles
Diego Luna
and Gael García Bernal rekindle their infamous chemistry (“Y Tu Mamá También”)
in this charming cautionary fable of futbol playing brothers who go south with
a vengeance.
Beto and
Tato Verdusco are living life on the edge in rural Mexico, toiling at a local
banana plantation and struggling to make ends meet. Beto (Luna) is an
idealistic hothead making endless promises to his fed-up wife and kids. Tato
(Bernal) is the charismatic clown – a happy gadabout living one day at a time in
clueless obscurity.
In true
fairy-tale fashion an eager scout (Guillermo Francela) turns up at the
ubiquitous dirt pitch where the boys take out their physical frustrations on
the futbol frenzied locals. He offers Tato a tryout with a professional team –
while negotiating an outrageous finder’s fee – and somehow Tato makes the cut.
But all is
not a bed of roses as Tato is grossly ill-equipped to deal with fame, fortune
and the fickle nature of the professional futbol circuit.
Beto, consumed
with jealousy over Tato’s mercurial celebrity, leaves his family on a lark to
make the rival team’s starting lineup as their beloved keeper. Now it’s mano-a
mano family-style, sans the brotherly love.
Luna and
Bernal – friends on and off the screen – demonstrate congenial competitive
rhythms as they navigate the sticky wickets of taut familial bonds and the
inevitable fallout of too much too soon. Tato’s trajectory is painfully amusing
as he pursues a sideline singing career (ouch!) and hooks up with the fantasy
actress who devours freshly minted big shots.
Carlos
Cuarón’s debut film feels far more assured than it should, likely owing to the
influence (and collaboration) of big brother Alfonso who has helmed such
cinematic classics (and personal favorites) as “A Little Princess” and
“Children of Men” as well as the brazen “Mamá”.
Naturally
the climactic showdown is an emotional minefield fraught with the pitfalls of
the white hot spotlight – bittersweet battling with cliché – but “Rudo” never
loses touch with its smart core of integrity and humor.