RUDO Y CORSI

Written and Directed by Carlos Cuaron
Starring Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna and Guillermo Francella


Batuto: Everything in life is a bet. The soccer ball either hits the goal post and bounces out or it bounces in and becomes a goal.

There is nothing like the bond between brothers and there could be no better screen brothers than Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna in the Mexican soccer comedy, RUDO Y CORSI. They may have only really made one film together prior to this one (that being Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN), but the two understated actors have such a great camaraderie together on screen that it seems only natural that they be paired up as often as possible. Last time out, Bernal and Luna played best friends that crossed a certain line most bromances never do. This time out, they return and reunite with the co-writer of Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN, Carlos Cuaron, who wrote that film with the director and his brother, Alfonso Cuaron (CHILDREN OF MEN). As brothers, there is no line to even consider crossing so all we’re left with is brotherly love – from the comfort and confidence that only brothers can share to the intense competition that only brothers know better.


RUDO Y CORSI translates to “rough and corny”. Luna is Rudo and Bernal is Corsi, despite both actors’ pleas to Cuaron that they each felt more closely related to the other character. Cuaron, Carlos that is, cast them in the opposite roles for exactly this reason. These brothers have grown up in shacks and both have big dreams of living well someday. They run their daily game in the banana fields and their weekend games on the soccer field, where they are both discovered by wily talent coach, Batuto (Guillermo Francello). The trouble is, he can only bring one of the two to the big leagues and a penalty shot decides that Corsi will be joining. Rudo ends up going as well later but the damage has been done. The two are forced to live with each other and play against each other while the public eats them up and they fall prey to the pratfalls of a fast paced life in Mexico City. Their sincerity never leaves them though and it is their small town sensibility that gets them through their troubles even though it is arguably what got them there to begin with.


Cuaron stepped up his role from writer on Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN to writer/director for RUDO Y CORSI, and his transition is a pretty run across the field. His decisions are sometimes questionable but they are always consciously being made and appreciated. The most peculiar of his decisions is not including that much footage of Rudo, Corsi or anyone else for that matter actually playing soccer. We don’t see the game that got them noticed; we don’t see the goals that got them famous. Instead, soccer becomes this mythical place where they are both gods and we get them when they are away from where they excel and are revered. In other words, we get to see them when they’re just trying to make it all work. In doing so, Cuaron may alienate people expecting a straightforward sports film but he grounds the brothers and the movie by tying them closer to the people off the field instead. And even though we cannot see it, we know Cuaron made the goal.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: STAR TREK Lives Long and Prospers

They’ve been taunting us for months now and while that sometimes comes across as obnoxious or pompous but in the case of the STAR TREK reboot, it seems that it was just pride all along.


There was no certainty that relaunching a decades old franchise and aiming it at a generation that really had nothing to do with it past having to sit through organized marathons with their potentially costumed fathers. Yet here we are, $72 million later, and there is no question that the decision to come back was a good one. The film is being heralded highly by both critics and audiences alike, which means that STAR TREK may not disappear so quickly into the overcrowded summer night. Outside of North America, STAR TREK performed solidly, pulling in an additional $35 million. Playing on over 5,000 screens, many expected a bigger figure.


STAR TREK may not have launched as monumentally as last weekend’s WOLVERINE but something tells me STAR TREK will be able to parlay its excellent word of mouth into a much thinner decline than the 68% WOLVERINE plummeted this week. WOLVERINE does not have the benefit of being loved by many if any, had to deal with the inevitable fanboy drop-off and went head to head with another highly anticipated feature that was essentially attacking the same demographic. WOLVERINE almost held its international box office crown though, pulling in just under $30 million outside of North America.


The Top 10 saw only one other debut, NEXT DAY AIR, which fizzled out in sixth place. Meanwhile, three intriguing indies performed reasonably well in limited release further down the chart. The highest charting title is also the title with the lowest average between the three. Reuniting Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna from Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN, RUDO Y CURSI, debuted on 70 screens but only managed an average of $3K. Meanwhile, debuting on just 12 screens, LITTLE ASHES, in which TWILIGHT hunk, Robert Pattinson plays gay, brought in the highest average of any limited release, $6.4K. And falling somewhere in between the two, Atom Egoyan’s latest, ADORATION, brought in an average of $4.3K on just 10 screens.

NEXT WEEK: Tom Hanks tries to take down Starfleet and the Roman Catholic church in ANGELS AND DEMONS. And on the indie front, the Jennifer Aniston/Steve Zahn comedy, MANAGEMENT will start small and the oft-delayed THE BROTHERS BLOOM will finally see the light of day.