Amores Possíveis

This interesting movie's story and characters are overshadowed by Murilo Benício's tour-de-force performance as Carlos - rather as the three Carloses. He is so stunning that it's hard to care or even be aware of anything else.

Just watching him shift so expertly and so convincingly and with such apparent ease and mastery between the three very different personas is vastly entertaining and makes the movie definitely worth watching, but it also makes appreciating anything else about the movie nearly impossible. I suspect that Carolina Ferraz's three Júlias and Emilio de Melo's three Pedros are equally impressive, but they persistently fade into the background beside Benício's brilliance.

It makes me want to watch his other movies to see if he so dramatically dominates everything he does, or if director Sandra Werneck just pulled this extraordinary performance out of him. He's much like Marlon Brando, in that his monumental talent as an actor, his almost superhuman physical beauty, and the strength of his presence so outshine everything around him that it's hard to see anything or anybody else in the movie. Brando was like that in every movie he made; it'll be interesting to see if the same is true of Murilo Benício.

Three different stories, or better possible lives, all starting with something insignificant but determining 15 years ago. This script sounds really familiar to me. Watch the marvelous movie from the German director Tom Tykwer 'Lola rennt' (1998) with the tagline: "Every second of every day you're faced with a decision that can change your life." Go see them both!

The "what if?" technique of three alternate life lines that 'Amores Possiveis' employs makes for a very interesting story if not a classic feature. The film's well-directed and well-acted definitely but its true strength lies in the script.

The different versions of each of the players are especially well characterised. Carolina Ferraz is absolutely amazing in portraying the different places that the character of Julia finds herself in and making them believable, Emílio de Melo makes each Pedro amusing in different ways while keeping the same subtly sentimental core.

Most importantly however, though principal actor, Murilo Benício doesn't seem to be the most astonishing of actors, he has an amazing and amazingly written character, in Carlos, whose portrayal he absolutely owns. And so 'Amores Possiveis' ends up being a more than decent film -great in bits, a tad trite perhaps in others- but an absolutely excruciating portrayal of the many ways that one single man can be a cowardly, childish asshole and how there may still be those slight possibilities that he can escape his own shortcomings.

Amores Possieves is film about three possible outcomes of a romance between Carlos and Julia. This film manages to be humorous and poignant at the same time. The director does a good job of moving between the three romances and the three versions of Carlos, Julia, and Pedro.

I think Pedro (Emilo de Melo) does a fantastic job at being the voice of reason to Carlos in his various incarnations. Murilo Benicio (Carlos) seems to be at his best acting, portraying the divorced Carlos, who is not sure if he wants Julia or Pedro. Because Benico pulls so much sympathy for Carlos from the audience, you become blind to his selfishness and in a way his manipulation of Julia and Pedro. He knows Julia still wants him and realizes (as Pedro gently reminds him or calls him out, however you want to see it) how easy it is to restore her passion for him. Yet, Carlos portrays himself as a victim of her anger and claims not to understand her viciousness toward him, despite the fact Julia has told him she wishes he were dead. Pedro reminds Carlos he left her for a gay man and thus, destroyed their relationship and her self esteem. The most tender scene between Pedro and Carlos is when Pedro asks Carlos if there is something going on between him and Julia and Carlos says, "I don't know how to lie to you."

Carolina Ferraz does a great job as Julia in all of her incarnations and with each version of Carlos, she realizes his short comings and decides to love him anyway. The way she dresses as ex-wife Julia, is almost symbolic of Julia's feeling her femininity has been cut out or destroyed by Carlos. She reverts back to a soft (she puts on a dress, is less tense), almost casual Julia, when it seems as if Carlos is headed back to her. Ferraz's strongest acting skills come to light as ex-wife Julia. You feel the passion, the pain of betrayal, and the tragedy of loving someone too much and having that person destroy you.

The extended adolescence of Carlos is great and does a good job of capturing the relationship between a mother and son, with a touch of Oedipus complex for good measure. The long shaggy hair, his lack of transportation, and Carlos living at home are all excellent backdrops to a man who fears commitment and is looking for someone just like mom. His arrogance and stupidity are on full display when signing up for computer love.

The tepid relationship Carlos and Maria endure, does a good job of making the audience wanting Carlos to leave Maria for the passion he could share with Julia, but also does a good job of showing what happens when a dream is realized and the reality of that dream, or in this case Julia, comes crashing in. Carlos realizes that even with Julia he cannot escape the demands of a relationship and honesty. His reluctance to leave Maria or hurt her, and his need to be with Julia on a "trial basis" shows the lack of clarity he has. Of course Maria knows Carlos isn't on a business trip, which is why she seems almost smug in her attitude towards Julia in the store, who gets a shock of her own. You see the maturation of Carlos when he ends his relationship with Julia and realizes you can't build a relationship on dreams and lies. He and Maria don't have passion, but they have an investment in each other and clearly he has a profound respect for Maria.

Eventually all versions of Carlos arrive at a point of clarity when he stops deceiving himself and come to grip with the realities of his love for the Julias. The rose colored glasses come off and he finds that there is no form of love that doesn't have thorns. All in all a movie that keeps you interested, with and ode to forties films at the end.

This is not the greatest movie of all times, but it's fun to watch. I've just seen it on a local network and was reminded on how surrealistic it is. I mean, they're college colleagues and he's not sure she likes him, but has the courage to invite her to the movies. She doesn't show up. Then, fifteen year pass by until they meet again. Well...He didn't have her phone number? She never showed up again in college? Then, how did she graduates? At a certain point she claims she left for two years to the US, then stayed there for 10 years. That all happened that night when she was supposed to meet him at the theater? But don't forget, this movie doesn't rely on reality at all! It's about wild possibilities in the lifetime of two people. Worth taking a look at anytime one's got spare time.