Once Upon a Time in Rio (2008)

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Good concept, poorly executed.

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Nothing like "Cidade da Deus" (City of God), Era uma vez... is a good movie, very realistic but with some problems of screenplay at the final. I don't know why they -the director and the writer- choose that final, is not necessary. Love story, big drama in a wonderful city with many faces like Rio de Janeiro. In this movie you can see the cruelty of the reality in a country where the injustice are so common to poor people. People live and die in Rio but if you put the attention in their faces you can't understand why they look so happy every day of their life's. I being there, in a funk party at night, and when I saw this movie I realize how unconscious was I to went there. May be because many of the people who live in the "morros" are workers and honest. If you are interest to know a little more than the wonderful beaches, women, men and the happy faces that you can see in the beach, this is a good movie to experiment how they live and how many injustice happened in our world.

Strongly based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, this movie had everything to be cliché. The old story about the rich girl who falls in love with the poor, ignorant boy. Add to that the fact that it is another one of those " favela ( slum ) movies " that appear each time more in Brazil, and you could say " I've already seen that ", before even watching. Except it isn't cliché, nor it is a favela movie. It's beyond that. It speaks out loud, on characters reactions to the main stars relationship, so many opinions, prejudices, that most of us have inside us, but don't even realize, because a story like this doesn't happen to everyone.It shows how " This side ", the rich side, because of its prejudices and fears, oppress, misjudge, and ends up destroying lives, or even creating the criminals we fear.Some people say the main character decisions are stupid. They aren't. The main character is someone who grew up in the favela, in fear, thinking he would never be like someone from " the beach ", the other side of town, and in the present is this oppressed person, who is embarrassed even to reveal to the girl he likes he works at the beach stand. And this affects he's decisions, since he always thinks the rich people will not understand him, and that he must fear them.The ending has caused many controversy. Many people hated it, thought it was fake and over the top. I don't agree. Had the ending been the other way, it would still be a nice movie, but that's it. It wouldn't be this incredibly strong story. Maybe in real life things wouldn't have happened exactly like in the ending, but that's not the point. The ending was supposed to be poetic, and synthesizes many of the points brought up during the story.Overall, it's a story full of clichés, but still refreshing and beautiful, with a very strong and poetic ending, although not very easy to swallow, and not the most feel-good either.

This is the greatest Brazilian drama movie since Central do Brasil and could be compared to Sheakspeare's Romeo and Juliet.If you live or have lived in Brazil you know that there is a lot of poverty around you and this movie portrays it really well. It shows how the rich people live next to the poor and the the barrier between both social classes. Aside form the amazing portrayal by Breno Silvera, of what Brazil is, the story really gets your attention from beginning to end. The end is shocking and realistically demonstrates what could happen in a real life situation.The actors Rodrigo Costa, who lives in the Morro do Canta Galo (where the story takes place), and Cyria Coentro interpreted their characters as if the story was real. Later, Rodrigo Costa revealed in an interview with Maria Gabriela that he lived through a similar experience when younger.

Breno Silveira invests in emotion and simplicity to build a story whose theme - economic and social inequality - is very complex and important to Brazilian society. Maybe the film is not reference for the viewer to drive down into the issue itself, but, of course, he will be touched by the story and the motivations of the characters.Thiago Martins embodies Dé with great sensitivity, bringing a bit of history of the actor, also resident of a slum, to the character. He is the soul of the movie, he makes us to believe in the history of the couple, even in the most unlikely clichés moments. One of the most moving scenes is when Dé say to Nina's ex-boyfriend, a rich guy, on its status as a worker, a seller of hot-dog. At that point we visualize the millions of underemployed poorly paid, ignored by society, surviving in precarious housing in the country.The end of the film has caused controversy. Some think outside the tone, exaggerated. I am not of that opinion. I think the final is poetic, emblematic, a request for assistance on behalf of love. Maybe some accused Breno Silveira of being naive, simplistic, but I think that is the price that he pays to be popular. We can not accuse him of lack of talent. Breno knows how to tell a story, how to reach the hearts of viewers.