Passionada

When I saw PASSIONADA the first time (it have been recommended by someone I truly admire) I was very put off. I didn't like it, I thought it was, well, nothing. The person who had recommended it in the first place, urged me, to see two other Dan Ireland movies. The Whole Wide World, which I loved and "The Velocity Of Gary" which I thought it was hard to sit through, the first time, but, I must say, I felt compelled to see it a second time and by my third viewing I was in love with the movie. Then I went back to Passionada. What a different movie it was, within the context of Ireland's other work. It is the perfect piece of the puzzle that unveils the total work of an artist's life work. Ireland's theme is LOVE, AS AN IMPOSSIBLE OBJECT. In the Whole Wide World, is intellectual and tragic in Velocity of Gary, is sexual and pathetic in Passionada, he allows the characters to have a future. It is, after all, Ireland's romantic comedy. But even then, we don't really know, if we listen carefully to a throw away line by Theresa Russell "Once a liar, always a liar" (Or words worth that effect) To all film fans, I suggest to see the films in order, one after the other and you'll discover something to look forward to.

Charlie (Jason Isaac) is a card player of dubious luck, who lives in a cheap motel and is going nowhere until he meets and woos a conservative and beautiful Portugese seamstress/singer, Celia, played by the stunning Sofia Milos (CSI: Miami). Celia has a meddlesome teenage daughter, Vickie (Emmy Rossum) who wants to learn how to count cards by blackmailing Charlie into teaching her, but he is banned from all casinos. Vickie wants to hook her mother up with a new man but her computer dating schemes fail. In the meanwhile, Charlie's only friends, a wealthy couple, Lois (Theresa Russell) and Danny Vargas (Seymore Cassel), lend him their Jaguar XKE, sailboat, and home to impress the widow that he is a successful and wealthy entrepreneur. It sounds like a typical dating game setup except for the background settings of the Portugese fishing community, mouthwatering seafood cooking, and casino gaming that flesh out the story. Love, fish, and lying to make points with the mother, Charlie learns how to turn his life around the hard way through his deceptions which backfire, and Sofia tries to forget the husband whose death has left her prematurely widowed yet not dead from the neck down.

Through the interferences of Vickie, lots of fish as unlikely props, and a sappy storyline, this is an entertaining film which allows the wonderful character actor Jason Isaac to show another side to his already powerful acting chops. Emmy Rossum is adequately irritating in a pre-Phantom of the Opera role which suggests her growth from typical teen to ingénue in training. However, it is the vibrant Sofia Milos as Celia who gives a rounded performance from cloistered widow to sensuous nightclub chanteuse that surprises and delights.

This is a small story about love in all its forms and definitions. Thoroughly enjoyable and wonderful for a date nite or simply rainy day, Passionada entertains.

The cinematography is fantastic. I even shed some tears as did my friend.

However, my brother and I, both born in Portugal, were disappointed with the pronunciation of the Portuguese, more Brazilian Portuguese than Portuguese from Portugal. Although the Fado lip sung by the main character was moving it was obvious that the actress was lip singing. Sofia Milos did a fine job as Celia Amonte, but aren't there any Portuguese-American aspiring actresses in Hollywood? The reason my Big Fat Greek Wedding was such a sleeper success is that most of the cast playing Greeks were Greek-American. It is obvious that the research of the Portuguese culture, language and cuisine was minimal. I'm amazed that this movie was filmed on location in New Bedford, MA, yet there were so many ethnic faux-pas. Were any authentic Portuguese-Americans advisors on this movie? Why is it that other American ethnic groups can have movies made of them with correct speech, etc. and that the Portuguese can not? Example: Mystic Pizza. At least Mystic Pizza only played Portuguese folkloric music not Brazilian Samba music. If Hollywood is to make a movie about the Portuguese in America they should keep it Portuguese.

"Passionada" is a very light and enjoyable film. But the story has been done a million times over by Hollywood and on TV. It's the typical tale of a worldly, WASPy guy who meets and romances an ethnic, family-devoted girl. You just knew that there would be a clash of cultures and an eventual break-up. She would undoubtedly tempt her guy with ethnic food, dance and song, and even sensual sex. And he would tempt her with excitement, luxuries, and new adventures that only a man from outside her world could promise her. Sound familiar? Some people here complained about the lack of authenticity due to the director using non-Portuguese actors and Brazilian music. I don't think it made any difference. The acting and music and shots of the locale were very authentic and first-rate. The only thing that I couldn't figure out was all the casino scenes, since there are no casinos in New Bedford, Mass. The nearest ones are Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods in Conn., over an hour away. And Vicky, the young daughter, drove her scooter all the way over there and back on school nights? And if Charlie was such a professional card counter at Blackjack, banned from every casino, why was he broke? I must've missed something during a bathroom break. Other than that, "Passionada" is a fun film and a good insight into Portuguese-American culture, if that's your thing.

"Passionada" is all about Milos as a beautiful Portuguese widow and cabaret singer who mourns the loss of her fisherman husband while her daughter and gambling prodigy Rossum consorts with professional card player Issacs to get good old mom out of her funk. The result is a beautifully shot film with marginally interesting characters and an uneventful story which spends most of its time with Issacs courting a reluctant Milos with his English accent and glib patter. The film wanders somewhere between romantic drama and romantic comedy not taking a firm position thereby diluting its ability to be engaging in either genre. Nonetheless, romantics and sentimentalists will appreciate this languorous but pretty film with a cosmopolitan flavor. (B-)