Rudo y Cursi (2008)

73% of critics liked it
(107 reviews)
62% of users liked it
(18,542 ratings)

Carlos Cuarón, who co-wrote the script for his brother Alfonso Cuarón's breakthrough hit, Y Tu Mamá También, makes his feature directorial debut with Rudo y Cursi. The film also reunites the stars of the earlier film, Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, and is the first release from the production… More Carlos Cuarón, who co-wrote the script for his brother Alfonso Cuarón's breakthrough hit, Y Tu Mamá También, makes his feature directorial debut with Rudo y Cursi. The film also reunites the stars of the earlier film, Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, and is the first release from the production company Alfonso started with Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro González Iñárritu, Cha Cha Chá. Rudo y Cursi depicts the changing relationship between two brothers who become soccer stars. Beto (Luna), the goaltender, is nicknamed "Rudo" because of his hard-nosed style of play, while Tato (Bernal), a forward, gets the nickname "Cursi" for his flamboyant goal celebrations and his flashy lifestyle. They both start out picking bananas in remote Tlachatlán, where they share a devotion to their mother. Then Batuta (Argentinean comic Guillermo Francella), a charmingly shiftless professional scout, happens by. He can only sign one of the brothers, so they battle it out on the pitch to see who gets his break. Instead of throwing the match to his brother as plan, Tato scores a goal and is on his way to stardom. He's more interested in becoming a pop star than a soccer star, but when he meets Maya (Jessica Mas), a famous TV hostess he's dreamed about for years, he begins to enjoy the trappings of fame. Meanwhile, resentful Beto waits for his chance. When he finally gets his break, he leaves his disapproving wife, Toña (Adriana Paz), and his kids to sneak off to Mexico City. The brothers' fortunes rise and fall, with Tato distracted by a demanding girlfriend and a hopeless singing career, while Beto deals with marital strife and a serious gambling problem. Rudo y Cursi had its New York Premiere at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 42 min.
Directed By: Carlos Cuarón
Written By: Carlos Cuarón
Genres: Drama, Comedy

In Theaters: May 8, 2009 Wide
On DVD: Aug 25, 2009
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics

Critic Reviews

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Carlos Cuaron, Oscar-nominated screenwriter of Y Tu Mama También, makes his directorial debut with this easygoing sports movie/family drama/musical comedy/crime story.
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
[Has] a mess of cultural issues to reckon with, and Rudo y Cursi deals with them while offering an engaging rags-to-riches sports fantasy.
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
Bernal and Luna have great sibling comic chemistry.
Greg Quill, Toronto Star
As we follow their adventures, it's impossible to ignore how poorly women come off in this story, alternatively as nags, cheats, liars and cloying opportunists.
Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail
Ay carumba-blimey, what a mess.
Ben Lyons, At the Movies
It's a great little sports movie.
Kelly Vance, East Bay Express
A sharp social satire of contemporary Mexico, held together by the slapstick glue of García and Luna's country-boy antics.
Mike Scott, Times-Picayune
Beneath its gritty visual realism -- which feels more suited to a full-on drama -- it's a delightful shrug of a movie.
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
All you can see are a pair of aging jocks laboring for condescending yuks
James Plath, Movie Metropolis
A wise little film that delivers as many insights as laughs, and features some fine acting and direction.
James Plath, Movie Metropolis
A fun yet enlightening film that's part Mexican and all human.
Matt Brunson, Creative Loafing
A cheeky viewing experience.
Sean O'Connell, Charlotte Weekly
A comically relevant fairy tale about the excessive trappings of celebrity and the dangers of achieving one's goals.
Paul Byrnes, Sydney Morning Herald
Apparently it's a hit in Mexico, which shows a remarkably generous sense of humour, given that Cuaron leaves no one standing. It's a funny movie but quite brutal.
Philippa Hawker, The Age (Australia)
A film that can't quite choose between the light and dark possibilities it conjures.
Brian Duff, FILMINK (Australia)
First time director Carlos Cuaron successfully mixes touching comedy with biting social realism.
Brian Orndorf, Dark Horizons
Garcia and Luna share outstanding chemistry together, and provide Rudo y Cursi with a definite edge and generous spirit of bewilderment that keeps the picture engaging.
Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile
Bright, fresh, well observed human drama dressed up as comedy as two brothers rise from rags to riches through their soccer talents
Louise Keller, Urban Cinefile
Writer director Carlos Cuarón (brother of Alfonso) has created characters that are so real you can almost hear their thoughts. Tato and Beto are filled with contradictions, faults, quirks and foibles, yet we like them and want them to succeed
Geoff Andrew, Time Out
He's helped by charismatic, pleasingly ambivalent performances by all involved, and while a later penalty sequence is needlessly prolonged, it doesn't diminish the film's cumulative effect. Serious fun.

Read all 23 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Stefanie C

great to see the pairing of bernal and luna again. the sibling rivalry and bonds of brotherhood are well rendered. there are comedic bursts, but not enough to carry the film. love bernal's video ~ the funniest act in the film.
Manu G

Super good movie! The film is just simply amazing with a great actor with Bernal; Diego Luna was just very funny and the movie gives a great message for everyone we all can learn from. The ending was just perfect and to me was the best part of the movie. It was directed Carlos Cuarón… More
Super good movie! The film is just simply amazing with a great actor with Bernal; Diego Luna was just very funny and the movie gives a great message for everyone we all can learn from. The ending was just perfect and to me was the best part of the movie. It was directed Carlos Cuarón and produced by himself and with colaboration with two very talented fellows also with Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu and Guillermo del Toro so you can see the talent this film really has. Mexican half brothers Beto and Tato - who will eventually be appropriately nicknamed Rudo (rough) and Cursi (corny), respectively - have a typical love/hate relationship with each other. They both work on a banana plantation and live with their extended family consisting of their mother, abusive stepfather, sister Nadia, and Beto's wife Toña and their children. The family are rural peasant class and are barely making ends meet. The brother's fortunes change when into their lives comes Batuta, a soccer scout. Despite their advancing ages, both Beto and Tato are naturally gifted at soccer, Beto as a goaltender and Tato as a striker. Playing professionally has always been Beto's dream, although Tato has other professional thoughts on his mind. Batuta eventually recruits both for different teams in Mexico City. Beto and Tato's fortunes rise and fall, the falls based on those things which hold more passion for the brothers. For Tato, he loves fast women, specifically television spokes-model Maya, but he loves singing even more. He would give up his soccer career for one in Mexican country singing, if only he was any good at it. For Beto, his passion is gambling. Although Beto is up front and straightforward about most things in life, he would lie and cheat to hide his gambling problem and debts. They just have to keep these alternate passions in check to make their soccer lives lucrative ones.
Fernando Rafael Q

A funny, but very unrealistic rags-to-riches story. It's entertaining, but not much more. I don't like to compare, especially between siblings, but Carlos Cuarón doesn't have the talent his brother Alfonso has for directing and writing. There are a lot of plot… More
A funny, but very unrealistic rags-to-riches story. It's entertaining, but not much more. I don't like to compare, especially between siblings, but Carlos Cuarón doesn't have the talent his brother Alfonso has for directing and writing. There are a lot of plot holes, and few truly funny moments. Cuaron's writing style is very unsophisticated. It's a shame to see Mexico's "dynamic duo", Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna almost gone to waste in RUDO Y CURSI, even though they managed to give decent performances.
Walter M

In "Rudo Y Cursi," Tato(Gael Garcia Bernal) and Beto(Diego Luna) are half brothers who work on a banana plantation and love to play soccer in their free time. While Beto is the responsible manager with a wife(Adriana Paz) and kids, Tato dreams of becoming a musician and… More
In "Rudo Y Cursi," Tato(Gael Garcia Bernal) and Beto(Diego Luna) are half brothers who work on a banana plantation and love to play soccer in their free time. While Beto is the responsible manager with a wife(Adriana Paz) and kids, Tato dreams of becoming a musician and possibly going north to Texas. One day on the way to a friendly soccer game, they encounter Baton(Guillermo Francella), a soccer scout, whose flashy red sports car has broken down. After watching the game and being duly impressed, he claims he can only take one brother with him back to Mexico City. Tato wins on a penalty kick with a bit of guile. Once he is settled on a team, he finds a place for his brother on a second division club. "Rudo Y Cursi" is an engaging enough movie that suffers from a lack of credulity in its story arc with the brothers having little trouble in their rise to fame and the tone is more fatuous than serious, with little new insight on the nature of fame. Compare this movie to the low key "Sugar" for instance. Some of the issues in "Rudo Y Cursi" may stem from Baton's narration, embellishing certain events while deleting other details, at the same time not forgetting his role in corruption. And there is an interesting twist on the big game. In the end, the movie, like the recent World Cup, just goes to prove that some people take soccer way too seriously.
Jeff T

If these guys weren't already stars, friends and charisma-vehicles, this movie wouldn't even lift off the little bit it does. Ueven in tone, all it has going for it is Bernal and Luna (not that that's nothing). They kept me there, but only by the littlest bit.
Joey N

I really like Gael Barcia Bernal, but this wasn't all that exciting. The actors have definite chemistry but the film isn't quite funny or amusing enough.
Ricardo G

The director that brought us Y Tu Mamá También (2001).A film soccer fans will love. Gael Garcia's and Diego Luna have such a strong chemistry. A story of two brothers (goalie and striker )that both want to become soccer stars. The story is simple two brothers play soccer in a… More
The director that brought us Y Tu Mamá También (2001).A film soccer fans will love. Gael Garcia's and Diego Luna have such a strong chemistry. A story of two brothers (goalie and striker )that both want to become soccer stars. The story is simple two brothers play soccer in a small village. A talent agent then gets them to play soccer professionally. All things are going great they got out of poverty and have the luxury of the good life ie cars, money, big house, good looking girl ect. But happiness can't last forever. Rudo has a gambling problem and Cursi can't become a musician. The movie is funny and lighthearted and tells us that we should really know what we are getting ourselves into before it's to late. This movie plays it safe and simple the film does feel a bit predictable when watching it. Tho that shouldn't make you stop watching the film. I have an older brother and we both love soccer so I love this film because I can relate to it. Saying this the movie is good it isn't Carlos Cuarón best work but it's still good.
Daisy M

Rudo Y Cursi starring the talented Mexican actors Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna and directed by Carlos Cuaron, brother of Alfonso Cuaron who directed Y tu Mama tambien, starring these 2 boys also.Their chemistry on screen was evident from the start, and they brought life to the… More
Rudo Y Cursi starring the talented Mexican actors Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna and directed by Carlos Cuaron, brother of Alfonso Cuaron who directed Y tu Mama tambien, starring these 2 boys also.Their chemistry on screen was evident from the start, and they brought life to the two main characters Beto and Toto.The story followed the two brothers lives as they went from banana farmers to professional football players. The strength of the movie was how they became from nobodies to somebodies and how one brother could handle the fame,while the other was unable to leave behind his bad habits.Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna were excellent and I have to give credit to Argentine actor Guillermo Francella who as Batuta gave a great performance as the scout who gave the boys a taste of an unexpected life they would never have thought they could have.
James B

Carlos Cuaron's debut is a lot like his brother's film, Y Tu Mama Tambien. And that's not a bad thing. A great character study filled with humor and great acting.
Quinto W

I know it is not a movie to be taken seriously and it's supposed to just be fun, but that's exactly my problem. I did not have fun. I did not understand what was happening most of the time because the story just kept skipping... months or years, it's never clear, and it… More
I know it is not a movie to be taken seriously and it's supposed to just be fun, but that's exactly my problem. I did not have fun. I did not understand what was happening most of the time because the story just kept skipping... months or years, it's never clear, and it was just not funny. Granted, the kitsch elements every single frame bathed itself with was amusing (especially Gael Garcia's atrocious hair), but it was not enough to compensate for an otherwise dull movie. Also, the cover of Cheap Trick's "I Want You to Want Me" was pretty hilarous ONLY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE MOVIE!!!; I thought it wasn't going to be because prior to the movie's release it would play non-stop on the radios and make my ears bleed and people would really take it seriously. I hate my country sometimes.
ernest e

A good movie. They did a much better job than what an arrogant hollywood producer would have done with what they had available.
t h o m !

Every now and again I'll go into a theatre hoping for an indie flick that's good. Heck, if I can go see a movie without seeing a preview for it, that's even better because then there are no expectations. There wasn't much to expect out of this. Sony Pictures… More
Every now and again I'll go into a theatre hoping for an indie flick that's good. Heck, if I can go see a movie without seeing a preview for it, that's even better because then there are no expectations. There wasn't much to expect out of this. Sony Pictures classic, I dig, Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, I also dig. So it seemed like a no brainer. I was surprised at how much this movie resonated with me. I'm not that involved with the Mexican Culture. I took like 3 years of spanish and still can't speak a word, ha. But this film had so much to it. Brotherhood, messages of life, success and failure, great cinematography and a lot of laughs. It was so good I had to see it again the next week before it wasn't in theatres anymore heh. Overall I felt this movie was really fun and heart-warming. I don't even like soccer but don't let that fool you as the message of the movie is more than that. The soccer and all that was just... extra flavor. This movie has a lot of flavor. ha. Definitely inspiring. By the end when the credits started rolling it had me singing "Quero Que Me Querias!!"