Copacabana

I have loved Barry Manilow's music since 1978. Someone really should have told him that he cannot act as his performance in this is embarrassing and excruciating to watch. His movie career hardly took off since, did it? Not recommended except to the fans who think he can do no wrong.

I saw this movie when it first came out in and again several years later, on CBS also. Well the 2nd time around it was horribly butchered clearly to put its run time under 2 hours and stuff it full of commercials. I've been trying to find it that longer version for years cause yeah hey, Barry's on screen for more than an hour; I can live with that .

Okay Barry's passable actor. He's not as good as Gene Kelly but not as dismal as Neil Diamond (Two minutes of the "Jazz Singer" remake with Diamond on screen was all I could stomach). It has the distinction of being of 4 TV movie musical I could tolerate. The musical numbers are above average and the setting (refetrring to the time period) has a more authentic look than many movies over the last 20 years taking place in the 40s or 50s. Baring that sad ending; it brought back to mind MGM musicals.

My gripe with this movie, why I'm giving it an 8 is Tony, the character Barry plays--What (acting) reach is he doing??? He's playing himself! Manilow nut me has read books about him, every article I could get my mitts on and the background story is his life with a little tweaking here and there. Wish he had put himself in another movie genre first. As good entertain as it was, the chosen role for his debut was not a very good one.

OK, I have been looking for this movie for years, I can't believe it's FINALLY on DVD. ( I too had a worn out VHS copy that I lost). My sis & I can practically sing every song from this movie....We've loved the song copacabana since it came out (I was a little kid at the time) so when they made a movie about it we were stoked to watch it, and watch we did, over & over. This is campy fun, with great costumes & one of the few musicals with cuban characters (albeit not very authentic) so if you like Latin music & choreography and enjoy great original songs...you'll love this movie. All of Manilow's songs here are well-written & are woven into the story in a pretty ingenious way. So do the merengue & the cha cha, you're at the COPA!

First off...I'm a Manilow fan, so my review of this movie can be considered a bit skewed. But, seeing that probably only people who ARE Manilow fans will be viewing this movie, I guess that's OK. For you Fanilows, please change the rating above to an 8, simply because Barry looks good in this and his charm shines through his mediocre acting ability. Obviously, the plot revolves around his 1978 mega-hit "Copacabana." If you know the song, you know the movie, but there are a few twists in the storyline. Annette O'Toole is FABULOUS as Lola--she's sweet and sexy, and doesn't have a bad voice herself. Mr. Bologna does an OK job as Rico, but it seems he's playing the same part as he did in "My Favorite Year." I kept waiting for him to ask if they were serving tongue at the Tropicana! Barry is the real star here. He shines in his songs "Sweet Heaven" and "Who Needs to Dream" and there are nice snippets of him playing some of his album-cut classic tunes as a piano bar performer throughout. The movie itself is a nice way to spend about an hour and a half of your time, but is necessary viewing for all Barry Manilow fans.

Having owned a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy (you get the idea) of this film on VHS, I could hardly wait for the day when it was released on DVD. My husband and I bought two copies (each of us had to have our own). (laugh) The plot, the dialogue, the way the actors plays the roles...everything about this movie is charming. When Barry sings, "Who Needs To Dream?" I cannot help but cry. It's such an incredibly beautiful song. Copacabana is what I consider a "lost treasure." More people should realize the worth of this film. Too often, viewers feel that unless a movie is "deep" it isn't worth watching. Untrue. To lay beside the one who IS your "every dream come true" and relax while enjoying the film without effort is a pleasure. This is a must-have for all Manilow fans who should show it to friends. They may think that they won't love it ...but, they will. (smile)