Rio, Eu Te Amo

"Rio, Eu Te Amo" is the third official entry in the "Cities Of Love" film franchise. It absolutely cannot stand to comparison with the nearly-excellent "Paris, Je T'Aime", but it may rank slightly higher than "New York, I Love You". Overall it feels kind of amateurish and randomly thrown-together, but there are a few distinctive episodes, like Stephan Elliott's offbeat tale about a famous Australian actor who decides, on impulse, to climb a "magic mountain" along with his "babysitter", or Nadine Labaki's cute yarn (with her and Harvey Keitel) about a boy who is waiting for a call from "Jesus". Some lush Rio scenery & music help. ** out of 4.

"Rio, I Love You" is part of a movie series focusing on cities (previous entries focused on New York and Paris). We have here a collection of vignettes depicting various and sundry events in Rio de Janeiro. My personal favorite was Nadine Labaki's "O Milagre" starring Harvey Keitel, but I'd say that the most important vignette was José Padilha's "Inútil Paisagem". The protagonist hang-glides over the city and tells Christ the Redeemer about the problems that continue to plague Brazil: crime, wealth disparity, and other things.

It was probably appropriate that the movie got released two years before the Rio Olympics. A lot of attention would get focused on the metropolis, but countless issues haunted the city. Probably most controversial was that the Olympics became a vanity project for Dilma Rousseff, and she forced people off their land to make room for the stadium (which is certain to never get used again). To make matters worse, the parliament forced her out of office right before the games - basically a constitutional coup - and now the oligarchy is back in power.

Anyway, it's a good movie. Also appearing are John Turturro, Fernanda Montenegro, Emily Mortimer and Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies).

So bad I don't want to waste much of my time reviewing. Idiotic stories that have little to do with the trailer.

What's with vampire b.s.??? I thought these were romcoms..... I love i love you new york, and paris je taime, once i got thru the reading, i liked Rio until the stupid vampire scene, doesn't flow at alll. Make a separate movie for that, i love horror movies, when I'm actually in the mood for them, but i thought i was watching a nice rom com like new york and you threw that in. NO!!!!!

Ohh: must take this chance to be first to review! More appropriate as the tagline (on the box): "Some Love Stories Only Happen in Rio", which struck me as more representative of one of those portmanteau type segmented films, which still attempts to tenuously link them altogether - and by which, if you're of the romantic bent, then may appeal: otherwise bit contrived at times.

However, some gorgeous wraparound air shot scenery of Rio's islands and location is worth the price of time entry alone. (Closing Statue of Christ shots especially worth appreciating as they nearly had to cut them out = see trivia.)

Some segments have some particular added interest for the actor / characters cast / portrayed (with their respective directors): Wouldn't want to (plot) spoil too much of it, but standouts for me were Emily Mortimer particularly – in that you have to wonder, is she portrayed to really genuinely care for her (much) elder 'beau', but so much so that I was disappointed that we weren't given complete closure on her character's fate; and of interest was well known actor John Turturro's segment (Qunda Nao há Mais Amor') - also his own written, is a sort of 'duet' with a famous prior singer (and spouse of another famed US actor), which seems to be saying age - and violent episodes?! – are immaterial to true love (ah, perhaps a veiled observation on that former marriage?!): plus Nadine Labaki's closing segment stands out for a performance coaxed out of a (local?) youngster (nice story conceit, too, with another famous Stateside actor more or less – literally - 'phoning in his performance.) Then, for you Korean Sang–soo Im fans, there's another of his idiosyncratic 'horrors' with, of cinematic note, Hugo Carvana's last also idiosyncratic appearance; - and won't give its title here, as it would be better to see it before you know that. And for me the best segment is the mid no dialogue one that begins with French star Vincent Cassell, that ends, frissonly segueing into revealing the owner of his inspiration.

If these attempts at non plot spoiling explanations intrigue you, then this is worth investigating.

Other than that, middling score for attention grabbing, although has to be high score for intertwining narrative efforts on display.