Rudo y Cursi

"Even when your luck runs out, some things never change."

May 15 2009 R 1h 46m
Comedy, Drama, Sport

Two brothers living a hard life of manual labor in rural Mexico have a simple dream: saving enough money to build their mother her dream house. But fate has other plans. A friendly game of soccer leads to first Rudo, then to Cursi being taken on by the nation’s top talent scout. Suddenly, they find themselves living the high life of star athletes: fame, fortune, fast cars and beautiful women.

Plot

Mexican half-brothers Beto and Tato--who will eventually be appropriately nicknamed Rudo (rough) and Cursi (corny)--have a typical love/hate relationship. 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 brothers' 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. Batuta eventually recruits both for different teams in Mexico City. Beto's and Tato's fortunes rise and fall, the falls based on things which hold more passion for the brothers--Tato loves fast women, specifically television spokesmodel 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. Beto's passion is gambling. Although Beto is upfront and straightforward about most things, he would lie and cheat to hide his gambling problem and debts. They just need to keep these alternate passions in check to make their soccer lives lucrative ones.

Written by

Carlos Cuarón

Directed by

Carlos Cuarón

Production Countries

United States of America, Mexico

Production Companies

Canana

Languages

Español

Awards

1 win & 9 nominations

Scores
# of Votes
9,464
Average Rating
6.7 out of 10
Metascore
67
Popularity
NA