It was described to be in the style of an "overly dramatic 1970s telenovela" and tells the story of Armando Álvarez, who must save his father's ranch from a powerful drug lord.

As the ranch encounters financial difficulties, Armando's younger brother Raúl (Diego Luna), shows up with his new fiancée, Sonia (Génesis Rodríguez).

It seems that Raúl's success as an international businessman means the ranch's troubles are over as he pledges to settle all debts his father has incurred.

But when Armando falls for Sonia, and Raúl's business dealings turn out to be less than legitimate, all hell breaks loose as they find themselves in a war with Mexico's most feared drug lord, the mighty Onza (Gael García Bernal).

[3] Dan Haggerty, who famously portrayed the titular character in the popular television series The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, appears as himself in a post-credits cameo.

Producer Darlene Caamaño Loquet stated, "We are just thrilled he [Ferrell] is on board and are moving full steam ahead since we have one month to teach him Spanish".

[8] In October 2010, it was reported that Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna had joined the cast along with Génesis Rodríguez, Pedro Armendáriz Jr., Héctor Jiménez, and Adrian Martinez.

Singer Christina Aguilera provided the title track, "Casa de mi padre", and appears during the opening sequence.

[21] Claudia Puig of USA Today declared, "This very funny spoof of telenovelas and classic Mexican westerns is decidedly offbeat and absurdly daffy".