Contadora Is for Lovers

I agree the movie has many brilliant moments!! Very well directed by Ameer!!!! I disagree with the comparison to "The House of Adam". Like every film it is about personal taste. "Contadora" is an exotic locale film with a Latin feel. "The House of Adam" is a "Rustic Big Bear" American tale. YES--both are love stories. The only commonality is the director, screen writer, producer Jorge Ameer. I also strongly disagree with your perception of Mike - Vincent De Paul (PS: You spelled his name wrong in your review and writers had noticed your other comments about him) in so much as that his performance I thought was genuine... Really the writing is somewhat stilted.... The writer director I read is Brazalian born and Panama native. I believe that English is Jorge Ameer's second language. So , of course the phrasing of the script is generic ... I think that De Paul, Sago/Santiago (as you commented) and Pietrangelo were great as an ensemble. But back to De Paul he is very much the brooding emotional guy. OK he has a nice face and stuff but his performance should in no way be discounted... Also in the story he is coming to grips with the struggle between his fiancé and the feelings that the Panamanian host is feeling for him. He comes off as conflicted and emotionally distraught. He reacts in the movie with great truth. It appeared very natural and unrehearsed to me. Is that not the basis of great actors. In the movie you are seeing his raw behavior for the first time.... All three looked very realistic and un staged to the viewer. They were existing in the moment and experiencing their journey. I had noticed from your other comments that you had written that you are setting up a platform for "The House of Adam" against "Contadora is for Lovers". I think that is somewhat wrong. Each film by the same director should be judged on their own merits. Also I think that Ariztical Entertainment who is distributing "Contadora is for Lovers" is a great company. They select quality films with great performances. They are certainly building bridges in getting films out their with unique subject matters.. This film is for sure one of them. PS: LAY off of De Paul I read other user comments and have seen his work and he is a good guy!!! Vincent is a "Natural" Leading man not just a pretty face!!

The budget for this film was clearly low, and, if the very clumsy travelogue scenes are any indication, was probably even lower than we might imagine (most of them are OK but there's this hilariously bad scene where the film stops dead so Tony Sago can force out a lengthy history lesson of Conatadora). I think even a low budget can be overcome by a strong enough script. Unfortunately a very promising idea -- a young couple change the lives of an emotionally wounded man and he does the same for them -- goes out the window early on. There is no development for Renee Pietrangelo's character and you get the impression she's only in the movie because they thought a three-way relationship would get more attention than a gay romance. Her reactions to what happens with her fiancé (Vincent De Paul) and their host (Tony Sago) are bad camp which would make Joan Crawford blush. There are no scenes where Renee properly deals with the idea of her fiancé also desiring men, and there are no scenes where Renee falls for Tony Sago. You may come to the conclusion she has undiagnosed mental problems.

In the acting sweepstakes, Vincent De Paul, who looks a little like soap star Thom Bierdz, is often wooden, but has some moments towards the end of the film. He is better when he isn't given meandering speeches about the meaning of life.

Tony Sago, when not given scenes that show distress or whining, impressed me. He's very smiley, which doesn't quite work with what the character is supposed to be early in the film, but he has a good screen presence and believably plays bashful.

The first scene with the three of them is infantile and I'm not sure how it ever made it past the script stage. The second is much better.

Probably the strongest scene in the film is the one where the two men go for a swim. It may be a cliché, but at least clichés are reliable, and the actors have a good chemistry.

The funniest scene is at a restaurant table, halfway through the movie. You have to see it for yourself.

Definitely enjoyed this film! So many twists involved - makes you want to be in the film and join the cast! Vincent's performance felt real and refreshing. What a beautiful man - inside and out! Shows that he cares about his work and the same time one can see that he truly enjoys acting. Definitely picked the right man for the part! I can relate to this film as I had similar experiences. We all have these bisexual tendencies and or had caught up with it it one time in our life, right? I liked how the film gave historical facts about Contadora - definitely gave a light to the name of the film. Thanks for the entire cast, especially Vincent's performance for keeping my afternoon entertained! Is there a part two coming soon?

Contadora is for lovers, NOT for movie goers. This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. The story makes no sense; the lighting was too harsh at times, but looked like it was lit by a flashlight at other times; the sound quality was so poor, I think the microphone was in the ocean while the actors were talking; and the camera work was so jumpy! It looked like everything was done in one take - if an actor stumbled on a line, or something went wrong, why wasn't that scene re-shot? How did that end up in the final movie? However, it was a great performance by Tony Sago. Too bad he wasn't in a better film. You really can't blame the actors when they clearly had nothing to work with.

Definitely entertaining and worth watching. The acting was on the lean side, but all in all, the film did have its moments. Unlike many of the reviews I've read here, I'm in no way related to the director, but I did like this film. I did not even know there was a place called Contadora, much less it be an island off the coast of Panama. I found the storyline to be original, fresh and well developed. This story retold with a large budget and stars would make a terrific remake. I did like the scenery, locales and dialogue. The DVD extras include a special of the filmmakers next project "House of Adam". It looked interesting and will look out for it when it's released.