Voices in Football - Film Review: Rudo y Cursi

Ahh, the dreams we all have of becoming a professional footballer immortalised in movie film. Sadly many footballing themed movies range from the cheesy and over produced such as Goal! where its all about the poor boy made good to the serious and point making like the Iranian effort by Jafar Panahi Offside!The Goal! trilogy, if you remember, saw the tale of Santiago Munez from Mexico who makes it to Real Madrid via Newcastle Upon Tyne. The back drop sees Casillas, Sergio Ramos and various other Real players appear and unashamed Adidas branding and product placement occurs throughout.

Rudo y Cursi on the other hand deals with Mexican football and ordinary lovable blokes who make it from a banana platation to Mexican top flight football only to lose it all soon after. The point is that Carlos Cuarón's effort is far from anything that can be compared to Goal! Written and directed by Cuaron and starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna the movie is a spoof type comedy with a large slice of mock melodrama. Following the tale of two brothers from a rural lower class Mexican family, the characters work on a banana plantation but dream of playing football at a professional level. The home of the two is far from luxurious yet happy and surrounded by love, hugs and extended family. But there is for Beto and Tato very little prospect of advancement outwith Mexican peasant working class banana platations. The two have intermittent kick abouts in a dusty field regularly falling out and arguing about the rudiments of each others fathers (they are half brothers) until one day an agent and talent scout with lovely younger woman on his arm 'Batuta' played credibly by Guillermo Fracella, appears and tells them he is impressed and wants to find them clubs.

But there is a problem; he can only hire one of them and his motives are far from genuine. There then transpires a penalty shoot competition where from striker Tato, the eventually named 'Cursi', wins and gets a trial and ultimatly a place with a Mexican first division club. Now, if it was not for the fact that this was a movie and a comedy one as well, there would be a problem with this course of action. For one, very few late twenty somethings get picked up off of banana plantations and whisked onto footballing fame. And two, this theme takes on even more comedy like proportions when Cursi goes on to play for the Mexican national team, bag his dream women 'television/model Maya' and gain a footballers house not soon after.

Not to be outdone the success of Beto sees the goalkeeper Tato soon gain a club as well thanks to the scheming and corrupt go between agent 'Batuta'. They are both successful but Tato 'Rudo' has other ambitions outwith football. Whilst Cursi soon makes a name for himself as a singer, scorer and womaniser Tato is a married man but a heavy gambler. With a background of Mexican country singing, gambling, football and lies both live in the same house and strive to keep alternate passions in check unaware that behind the scenes the scheming and corrupt Batuta is making money out of them.

At the peak of glory they forget all animosity but it does not last long. Maya soon bins Cursi for another footballer and he starts getting threats in the street from the hardcore fans of his team 'Deportivo Amaranto'. Rudo, despite a record breaking goalkeeping shutout record, has massive problems of his own through excessive gambling debts accumalation. He is soon under severe financial pressure from the scheming Batuta to throw a key game that would have allowed him to break a goalkeeping shut out record.

At the very real possibility of fulfilling all of their dreams, the siblings must face off an innate rivalry via a game between the rival siblings sides Deportivo Amarato and Atlético Nopaleros. With Rudo aware he has to throw the game and Cursi needing to score to overcome a goalscoring drought things come down to a last minute penalty with scores locked at 0-0. With their own demons, sins and limitations to the fore Cursi misses the penalty with Rudo saving. In the stands Batuta sits with head in hands a ruined man having waged his finances on the match ending 1-0 to Amarato. Cursi is abused from the stands having gone from national singing and goalscoring hero to national loser. Rudo, having broken the goalkeeping record, then has to face up to those he owes money.

On the way home from the game crooks, who had wagered on the game, stop the brothers car and shots are heard. Rudo loses his leg due to the attack and with it goes his record breaking career. Cursi meanwhile slips quickly into second division mediocrity and soon out of the game completely. He goes from someone with it all (including blond highlights) to a slightly overweight shaven headed ex-footballer forgotten and dumped. But what was the mutual worst moment sees the brothers find forgiveness as they cast themselves headlong towards individual destiny. Batuta meanwhile is seen now women-less but out on a soccer field still talent spotting looking for another two heroes to thrust into twisted exploitative stardom.

The movie is far from Y tu mamá también, which also starred the pair,but it could never be such is the topic of the movie. But neither is the movie a Blades of Glory type Will Ferrell effort. Rudo y Cursi is as memorable for its cartoonish screwball comedy as it is for its serious messages. At once smooth and frantic, filled with jibes and silly yet believable characters, the movie spoofs such global cultural staples stereotypes of footballers. That of budding musicians chasing hot women, gambling wads of cash, scoring match winning goals and celebrating with cheesy dances. But in the background are other real themes such labor exploitation, currupt agents and widespread corruption in the Mexican football world.

This is why you cannot see Rudo y Cursi simply as a farce. It merges serious football themes and human emotions with chuckle worthy moments of tragi-comedy. The crowd scenes and stadia used during the games are very realistic and credible as well. The directors cleverly decide not to superimpose real fan scenes from games and instead shoot real atmospheric scenes complete with flagging waving colourful cheorographed chants. The snippets of football philosophy are also noteworthy. Cursi is demoted to the subs bench after freaking out upon finding out he has lost his model/TV star girlfriend. Sitting on the bench is compared or likened to drowing in quick sand. Being a sub is also compared to being on honeymoon and watching others make love to your wife.

What the Federacion Mexicana de Futbol make of the movie is another matter. The top flight Primera Division and Division A are referred to indirectly as Division One and Two but the large reference to a football scene that is glamorous yet a corrupt world of top-flight football is telling and hardly leaves the Mexican game looking shiny and clean. With the Mexico struggling to reach South Africa 2010 the game in Mexico may need exposure. Sven Goran failed at the helm of the national side and Aguirre is also struggling. With that in mind the Mexican FA could give Rudo y Cursi a call to rescue to the team?


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