"Mexican wave" stars back together for new movie

By Frank Jack Daniel

CIHUATLAN, Mexico (Reuters) - With bearhugs, wisecracks and peals of laughter, the dream team of "Mexican Wave" film stars is back together working on its first joint celluloid production in six years.

The new film, "Rudo y Cursi," is being shot on Mexico's steamy Pacific coast and brings together a star-studded group that includes actors Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, who will hit the screen together for the first time since "Y Tu Mama Tambien" in 2001.

A comedy-drama, "Rudo y Cursi" broadly translated as "Rough and Corny," is a tale of love and hate between professional soccer-playing brothers played by Luna and Garcia Bernal.

"It's the family reunited to work together," said co-producer Alfonso Cuaron, who made "Y Tu Mama Tambien," a sexually charged tale of friendship and rivalry that was nominated for an Oscar and helped thrust a new generation of Mexican film talent into the global spotlight.

Cuaron's brother Carlos directs "Rudo y Cursi" and the other co-producer is old friend Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, director of last year's Oscar-winning "Babel."

Inarritu, Alfonso Cuaron and fellow Mexican Guillermo del Toro, who directed last year's "Pan's Labyrinth," recently formed a production company that will make five films in a $100 million deal with Universal Pictures. "Rudo y Cursi" is the first film in the package.

In 2006, the three directors made a major impact at the Academy Awards. "Babel" was nominated for seven Oscars, including best picture and best director. It won for best original score. "Pan's Labyrinth" won three Academy Awards and was nominated for three others, and Alfonso Cuaron's "Children of Men" received three nominations.

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