Amores Possíveis

a film of flavors.the flavors of love . and sex. seductive, sweet, a little bitter. but comfortable, romantic and the best choice after a long and not easy work day. a Brazilian film. and this defines all. not a soap opera but not real far. because the same ideal universe, with three versions, same game of feelings and desires , same need of the other and the expectation to be the right choice are present. but something did the difference. not real precise. maybe, the actors. and the story who seems be created for everyone.

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.

Carlos, a lawyer, has three different lives but one thing is the same: A dream about ex girlfriend, Julia. Years earlier, Carlos and Julia were supposed to meet at the movies. She never showed up.

The first Carlos is married to his wife, Maria, but is not very happy with his life. The second Carlos is divorced with a son and lives with his male lover. The third Carlos is single with a string of different girlfriends and lives at home with his mother.

Each man is reunited with his love, Julia, but the ending for each man is not what you'd expect.

Amores Possíveis (Possible Loves) is an interesting story of three different possible loves. It is acted out well by the main characters Murilo Benico and Carolina Ferraz who play multiple parts.

I also liked the music soundtrack, which featured songs by musicians like Chico Buarque, Zizi Possi, Ana Carolina, João Gilberto, Paulinho Moska, Bonga, Afro Cuban All Stars and much more.

'Amores Possíveis' (POSSIBLE LOVES) is fine little film from Brazil courtesy of writers Paulo Halm and Maya Werneck Da-Rin and polished young director Sandra Werneck. Filmed in Rio de Janeiro in Portuguese, the story of three possible outcomes of a potential love affair is cleverly conceived and is acted with aplomb by a fine cast of actors, and though billed as a comedy it shines with some dramatic truths that carry it far beyond the usual fluff so often before us in this country.

The 'story' is three stories in one: fifteen years ago Carlos (the inordinately handsome and talented Murilo Benício) was to meet a fellow college student Júlia (beautiful and elegant Carolina Ferraz) and the film takes that moment and creates three possibilities: 1) Carlos married Júlia and had a son with her and in the present has left her for a male lover Pedro (Emílio de Melo), 2) Carlos longed for her while being married to a comfortable but not exciting Maria (Beth Goulart) and meets Júlia as the film opens, leaving his Maria for his long desired romance with her, and 3) Carlos has never married, is a lothario living with his possessive widowed mother (Irene Ravache) and encounters the artsy looney Júlia as yet another conquest. How these three possibilities for the true ending of a fifteen year missed cinema appointment reveal the true version is the story of the film. Using the same actors for the various roles and mixing the progress of each story variation can confuse the audience at times, but the actors are so fine in demonstrating the varied aspects of each character transformation that the film becomes a suspenseful puzzle. The endings of each version contain important lessons about love and, well, you just have to watch it to enjoy the details.

The film fizzes with sexual excitement on many levels and is completely unafraid to take a realistic look at both straight and gay relationships, showing how similar they actually are. It is not a 'great film' nor does it purport to be, but is certainly entertains and showcases some superbly talented and beautiful actors from Brazil! In Portuguese with English subtitles. Recommended for all audiences. Grady Harp

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.