Another witty, romantic, funny, lightweight teen-oriented film directed and written by Jorge Furtado, combining love triangles, comedy, adventure and social commentary, and featuring his great ear for dialog (he's the smartest comedy writer working in Brazilian cinema today). Here, Furtado once again explores his trade-mark ersatz Cartesian logic construction of the narrative (which he's been developing since his famous, ground-breaking 1989 short "Ilha das Flores"): he makes ordinary stories look fresh by refusing linearity and taking time to consider the "what if" factor; his plots develop in bifurcations, they take side roads. When it seems we're lost in a maze, he throws us Ariadne's thread to a safe exit (his non-corny, unaffected happy-endings) -- but we don't feel fooled, we follow him with a smile.
The cast is firmly lead by teenagers Darlan Cunha (his nonchalant, minimal acting is perfect for the part) and Sophia Reis (lovely without being "cute"), with Deborah Secco looking very sexy and overrated Lázaro Ramos doing what he does best: comedy. There's a lull in the final act, with too many songs commenting the action and plot holes that require a considerable suspension of disbelief, but the pace and editing are so swift and the mood so joyful that by then we're bought. This is Brazilian commercial cinema at its best: sunny, funny, smart, unpretentious, well-made.
The cast is firmly lead by teenagers Darlan Cunha (his nonchalant, minimal acting is perfect for the part) and Sophia Reis (lovely without being "cute"), with Deborah Secco looking very sexy and overrated Lázaro Ramos doing what he does best: comedy. There's a lull in the final act, with too many songs commenting the action and plot holes that require a considerable suspension of disbelief, but the pace and editing are so swift and the mood so joyful that by then we're bought. This is Brazilian commercial cinema at its best: sunny, funny, smart, unpretentious, well-made.