Mond über Parador

While "The Kiss of the Spider Woman" cast Raul Julia as a political prisoner in an unidentified Latin American country, this time he works for a dictator in a fictional Latin American country. Specifically, the dictator suddenly drops dead, so Julia replaces el presidente with a Broadway actor (Richard Dreyfuss) shooting a movie in the country. From there, Dreyfuss has to figure out how to be a dictator, all the while balancing it with his own life.

Is it appropriate to turn the tense situation in Latin America into comedy? Well, "Moon Over Parador" does a good job with it. No matter what they do in this movie, they pull it off. It just goes to show why Richard Dreyfuss is one of the greatest actors of our era, and what we lost when Raul Julia died. Definitely worth seeing. Also starring Sonia Braga (who co-starred with Raul Julia in "TKOTSW"), Jonathan Winters and Sammy Davis Jr.

I agree: the first lady is hot.

MOON OVER PARADOR, Paul Mazursky's follow-up to the brilliant 'social class' comedy, DOWN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HILLS (1986), reteams the director with star Richard Dreyfuss, in one of the funniest 'Look-alike on the Throne' comedies of the past two decades.

The theme (a stand-in replaces an incapacitated or unavailable leader) has been a popular subject in film for years (THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER, THE PRISONER OF ZENDA, I WAS MONTY'S DOUBLE, THE EAGLE HAS LANDED, and DAVE are just a few examples), but Mazursky gives it a novel twist by making the 'hero' a ham actor of epic proportion (and NOBODY plays an egotistical actor better than Dreyfuss!), and the 'villain', a ruthless advisor who is a frustrated director, as well (Raul Julia, who is wickedly funny in the role).The comic chemistry between the pair works so well that you could easily mistake the film as being written by Neil Simon!

Parador, a tiny Caribbean nation where English is the national language, and revolution, the national pastime, is ruled with an iron hand by President Simms (Dreyfuss, with a moustache, paunch, and swarthy complexion). A larger-than-life, womanizing scoundrel, Simms is controlled, in turn, by opportunistic Secret Police chief Roberto Strausmann (Julia). Making a social visit to a American movie set, the dictator meets the picture's star, Jack Noah (Dreyfuss, again), who is goaded by his castmates into doing his popular over-the-top impression of the leader (fortunately for Noah, Simms finds it amusing).

After the shooting wraps, Noah, encouraged by a local American 'businessman' (Jonathan Winters, in a funny cameo), decides to stay for a few days to indulge at a national festival. Meanwhile, Simms is being soundly condemned by Strausmann for his public affair with Madonna, a notorious prostitute (played by Sonia Braga), as well as for his unhealthy lifestyle...and the dictator keels over and dies!

Things look bad for Strausmann, until he remembers the American...and Jack Noah is about to be 'drafted' to play the role of his career...

Full of humorous references to Broadway (Strausmann has reviews of EVERY play Noah had ever appeared in...and quotes some of the more 'colorful' ones, to the actor's chagrin), sight gags (Noah, as Simms, starts the befuddled household staff on a program of aerobics), and cameos (Sammy Davis Jr. sings Parador's 'National Anthem', and Mazursky, himself, appears in drag, as Simm's mother), MOON OVER PARADOR is a comic gem, with an over-the-top climax (which would be 'lifted' for Ivan Reitman's 'American President' comedy, DAVE), and a bittersweet ending that will certainly bring a smile to all but the most jaded viewer.

This film is DEFINITELY a keeper!

This movie contains one of Richard Dreyfuss's greatest performances, as an actor playing an actor who plays a dictator and does it so convincingly that his own mother does not detect the impostor. Also, this movie is funny, yet has a serious side as well. What is especially intriguing about this movie is the character Madonna, who is the dictator's mistress, but eventually becomes the leader of the country. Madonna's evolution from mistress to political leader added greatly to the quality of the story and to the movie's entertainment value. And the main character, who at the start of the movie is a struggling actor and somewhat of a buffoon, evolves too and by the end of the movie commands respect. I liked this movie.

Hilarious comedy with Dreyfuss playing an actor who is asked by tough guy Julia to impersonate a dictator who has turned cold and very dead. Lots of laughs to be credited to director Mazursky, who makes an appearance in drag as the dictator's mother.

This is one the few movies I can watch over and over. If you've never seen it, give it a shot. Richard Dreyfus and Raoul Julia are wonderful together and although the movie amuses me greatly, it reminds me of Julia's untimely demise. It is a good opportunity to sit back and laugh at the international intrigue that is too much with us in these time of terror and fear.