SNL alumni and all-around funnyman Will Ferrell has played many different versions of the same character in his career, and after tackling ice skater, NASCAR driver, elf, and anchorman, his latest foray is into the world of the Mexican soap opera. What probably started as more of a joke, Casa de Mi Padre sees Ferrell as the lead character, Armando Alvarez, in a (mostly) Spanish-spoken film, which he describes in the bonus features as "Telenovela meets bad Mexican Western, meets Quentin Tarantino."

Ferrell, who didn't know much Spanish prior to filming, did his "tarea" well, and speaks the language (pretty) decently throughout the 84-minute film. Kris Kristofferson even starts the movie out with the quote "If it sounds Spanish man, that's what it is. ...It's a Spanish movie." Nothing but subtitles, except for a few profanities from Nick Offerman's American DEA Agent.

The plot is very simple, but if you've seen any of Will Ferrell's movies, you know that that will not stop him from going all over the place during the story arc. He plays Alvarez, the slower ranchero son of a Mexican landowner. His father treats him like an idiot, and still blames him for his mother's death. Armando's better-looking, more popular brother (Diego Luna) comes home with his bride-to-be, Sonia (telenovela star Genesis Rodriguez), and the whole family gets caught up in a drug war that includes the infamous "La Onza," played perfectly by Gael Garcia Bernal.

From the opening credits, Casa is delightfully cheesy in its attempts to stay low-budget and plays it over the top for laughs. Sets are hand-painted, the towns appear in miniature, and rarely do we get to see real animals in the film. Even the music is wonderfully overdone. From the dramatic opening theme song by Christina Aguilera, to the hilarious song around the campfire which includes a trumpet solo, (as opposed to "yazz flute") the soundtrack is one of the funniest things about the movie.

It definitely takes a little while to find its groove. While native Spanish speakers will probably laugh out loud from the get-go, missing out on Ferrell's facial expressions to read the subtitles proves difficult at first, and the forced laughter of Alzarez and his dimwitted buddies was about all I had at the time. From there though, it spans from a pretty hilarious father/son relationship story, to a very Monty Python-esque wild animal attack as the movie's climax. Bernal also steals every scene he is in, and I still crack up every time I see his Canadian Slims obsession play out.

Not much of a moral or redeeming factor here besides the obvious messages of doing what is right, and staying true to your family. It's rated R for language, (although almost all in subtitle) a hyper violent shootout or two, and a seriously awkward love scene with gratuitous rear end nudity. If Will Ferrell is your go-to comedy guy, you'll probably enjoy it, but it definitely won't appeal to the mass market as much as some of his others.

For bonus features, the Blu-ray is pretty stacked. There are about twenty minutes of deleted scenes which are about as funny as the movie, and could have just as easily made the cut. I particularly enjoyed the extended campfire scene which gets the hombres talking about why Americans no longer make their own "pantalones," and we get to see more of how poorly Alvarez rolls a cigarette. There is also a music video for "Fight For Love," sung by Ferrell and Rodriguez, which was actually cut from the movie itself, and was only seen during the credits.

The director commentary is there as well as a making of featurette that is laugh out loud funny at points, as it looks like almost as much fun to make the film as it was to watch. Three fake commercials were made for brands of cigarettes and beer from the film, and as a special bonus, the last interview of Pedro Armendariz Jr. is also included, as the actor who played Alvarez's father in the film passed away in December of last year.