Chica de Río

Fun romantic comedy with a British/Spanish cast and dealing with a likable Bank clerk who flees Brazil where finds lots of problems . Discovering your wife is sleeping with your boss can make a man do strange things . For a Samba-obsessed London banker (Hugh Laurie) , robbing a bank and boarding the first flight to Rio are just the beginning . He arrives in Rio , there meets a sympathetic taxi man (Santiago Segura) and ¨La Chica De Rio¨ , the lovely Orlinda (Vanessa Nunes) . But he finds his robbed loot and the safe is open and all is gone including his clothes an all , as he is left on the streets of Rio with nothing . After several complications, he travels back to England and finds an amazing surprise when he arrives .

A very pleasant romantic comedy plenty of humor , emotion , agreeable scenes and mayhem . An intelligent and engaging script which uses amusing situations to give us a good movie in a high sense and intimate sensitivity and that kept me entertained for the almost one hour and fifty minutes of duration . Rightly enjoyable and fun-filled , milestone comedy which neatly combines humor , mirth , Samba dancing , entertaining situations and amusement . Flawless story with a trio of sensational protagonists , Hugh Laurie as a clerk getting into trouble , Santiago Segura as cab driver Paulo and including an unforgettable Vanessa Nunes who plays a Samba dancer , she parades sexily at her best and more relaxed and enticing than ever . Fun acting by Hugh Laurie as a mild-mannered banker finds himself living out his wildest dreams . The hit of the show is undoubtedly for the fetching Hugh Laurie who gives one of the best screen acting . I liked everyone in the excellent cast, and the male and female actors , especially Vanessa Nunes as exotic samba dancer , were all very attractive . I have seen many, Hollywood-romantic-comedies that couldn't compare with this one, but many give them a higher rating because they are Hollywood-made . The screenplay manages a lot of laughs from the audience and romantic elements that you never loose your attention from the film . This movie is a lot of fun and well worth the time. I enjoyed the film tremendously and I guarantee you that if you rent it, you'll enjoy it and have a few laughs . It was funny , great actors and a super soundtrack full of Samba music and Bossa Nova . Furthermore , a colorful and evocative cinematography by Jose Luis Alcaine who was first cinematographer to use fluorescent tube as "key" lightning and deemed to be one of the best Spanish cameraman . Alcaine frequently works with Pedro Almodóvar , Bigas Luna and Vicente Aranda , as he has photographed ¨The skin I live in¨ , The bad education¨ , ¨Volver¨ , ¨Women in the verge of a nervous breakdown¨, among others .

The motion picture produced by the great producer Andres Vicente Gomez was well directed by Christopher Monger , a little prolific filmmaker who has directed some movies with moderated success such as : ¨Waiting for the light¨ , ¨The Englishman¨ , ¨Just Like a Woman¨and this ¨Girl from Rio¨ , also titled ¨La ragazza di Rio¨ or ¨A Garota do Rio Brazil¨ or ¨La Chica De Rio¨ . Rating : Good and charming picture , worthwhile seeing . The flick will appeal to Hugh Laurie fans .

The Girl from Rio is an entertaining diversion. Simple, light hearted and amusing; it is a fun movie with excellent performance from Hugh Laurie who plays his usual bungling but good natured self and Vannesa Nunes is just fantastic.

"Who doesn't like Samba, you'd rather not meet

There's sick in the head,or lame in the feet"

Wrote Dorival Caymmi in 'Samba da Minha Terra'

It seems another punter doesn't know the difference between Salsa and Samba. The difference is the same as between Spanish and Portuguese.

I arrived at this film by accident. I had video taped it and promptly forgot about it. Then I tried to get through City of God and Favela Rising. I know City of God is well thought of but both films I found upsetting. Drugs, kids, killing, guns and gangsters. Enough of that!

As usual I was looking for some spare tape on my badly listed VHS tapes. I fast forwarded a bit, caught the end of another programme I had taped. Then suddenly my favourite Samba beat struck up ! It then alternated with a Northern British brass band. All done in early 1970's bright cartoon style. It was the rhythms that caught my attention. Then came the name of the film ...'The Girl from Rio' I was hooked !

The story of this film has already been recounted by previous posters along with the confusion of Salsa and Samba.

I must make a confession, I have been to Samba classes just like Raymond ran in the film. This may be one of the reasons I liked it, identification. Of course there were faults. How did Orlinda open the safe in Raymond's room, a nice big combination lock thing? Santos Dumont Airport was used, Raymond takes of in a Boeing 737 and lands in a MD-11. It would not be unusual to take off from Santos Dumont, land in Sao Paulo. Then get the flight to London. Yet does that matter, for the artistic continuity of the film the way it was done was good enough. How many people would know anyway ?

I was very envious of Raymond's trip to the Salgueiro Samba School and his girlfriend Orlinda(Vanessa Nunes).

When Orlinda appeared out of the crowd of Samba dancers to dance in front of Raymond, I was captivated.

The film was a fun piece of nonsense that I found very enjoyable. I loved the twist at the end. I loved the twist of Orlinda as she danced the Samba. So infectious, neither Robert or myself could stay still.

Strangely back in 1997 I wrote a story with basic similarities. Check out the link:- 'Sex is Great! If you can get it ?' http://www.geocities.com/cafebrasilia_2000/index5.html

It's hard for me not to like a movie that: A) takes place in an exotic tropical country B) has the protagonist sleeping with his dream girl after knowing her an hour, and C) has a happy ending. These qualities nearly compensate for the weaknesses of The Girl From Rio.

The plot of this Hollywood Film Festival winner is pedestrian and slack. You gotta like this Raymond guy, though.

Raymond (Hugh Laurie) is a bank clerk with a thoroughly unlikable boss, a cuckolding wife, and an endearing passion for Salsa dancing. Laurie's is the film's only real nuanced performance. No matter what he's saying or doing, his eyes betray him. His ubiquitous fear that the world is a dangerous and scary place has become his reality. It's clear, however, that beneath his pitifully polite and feckless British demeanor is a simmering frustration. Whatever you do, don't confuse Salsa with Bossa Nova. That makes Raymond really angry.

Raymond quietly endures his mostly comfortable life until, quite suddenly, the machinations of his wife and boss render him alone and disconsolate. A coworker commiserates, `It could be worse,' and Rodney does his best to prove his friend right by filling a duffle bag with all the bank's cash on Christmas Eve and hopping a flight to Rio de Janeiro.

Enter The Girl. `S' words come to mind. Sultry. Sensual. Sizzling. Steamy. Vanessa Nunes's Orlinda is a famous Brazilian Samba dancer whose mere picture fuels Raymond's first-class flight from sanity. Then it's this pesky plot stuff again. Paulo, the taxi driver (Raymond's seedy, hapless Sancho Panza) just happens to know Orlinda. They meet, they dance down a Brazilian calle accompanied by a thousand musicians and acolytes, they go to his room, they make love. As much as I was rooting for old Raymond, I felt vaguely ripped off.

Not nearly as ripped off as Raymond, however.

Everyone in this film has a secret. Raymond. Olinda. (`You're just a thief like me,' she tells him.) His boss. His wife. Paulo. Even the painfully anachronistic villain.

As I mentioned, everything turns out just fine. Even the obscene economic disparity of Rio (better portrayed in 1999's Orfeu) is corrected in authentic Robin Hood fashion.

Did I mention the villain? They made him carry a little dog.

Being a fan of Hugh Laurie I have spent the last few years trying to track down this hard to find film on DVD. Eventually found an Australian copy on ebay ! Look out for it.

After watching the film I was shocked and disappointed at how such a wonderful film could have been so overlooked. This is a film that has a great storyline, excellent cast and locations, great comedy, superb direction and soundtrack....and yet as far as I can tell, was a dismal failure at the box office and is only available on DVD in Norway and Australia - and even there, difficult to find.

If you get the chance to rent or buy this DVD - do so immediately - you will not be disappointed.

Now where can I buy the soundtrack CD ?