Very charming, funny, innovative and smart dramatic comedy by Cacá Diegues, with elements of dark humor, romantic comedy, comedy of manners full of irony, and even a slight surrealism. Casting is full of stars (Zezé Motta, José Wilker, Paulo José, Rita Lee!, Antonio Pedro, Paulo César Peréio, Jofre Soares...), with Marília Pêra having a great performance in the leading role, Marialva, a skilled but not young dubbing actress who has always been frustrated both in love and in her career. Art direction works very well too, bringing the world of cheap sitcoms to the big screen. Absurd situations make the film be very colorful, and the fact that the actress talks with and sees a dead former boyfriend and the TV series character she dubs is a very innovative one. Interesting mockery on problems of Rio de Janeiro and on Brazilian racism and bad police may also be highlighted. Besides that and perhaps even more important, the image Brazil had about itself as a problematic satellite country of the United States, also seeing the neighbors in Latin America as minor, is an element that is present throughout the story and is also significant in the end of the story. To resume, Marialva deserves a whole treaty about psychology and moral.
