Fun romantic comedy with a British/Spanish cast and dealing with a likable Bank clerk who flees Brazil where finds lots of problems . Discovering your wife is sleeping with your boss can make a man do strange things . For a Samba-obsessed London banker (Hugh Laurie) , robbing a bank and boarding the first flight to Rio are just the beginning . He arrives in Rio , there meets a sympathetic taxi man (Santiago Segura) and ¨La Chica De Rio¨ , the lovely Orlinda (Vanessa Nunes) . But he finds his robbed loot and the safe is open and all is gone including his clothes an all , as he is left on the streets of Rio with nothing . After several complications, he travels back to England and finds an amazing surprise when he arrives .
A very pleasant romantic comedy plenty of humor , emotion , agreeable scenes and mayhem . An intelligent and engaging script which uses amusing situations to give us a good movie in a high sense and intimate sensitivity and that kept me entertained for the almost one hour and fifty minutes of duration . Rightly enjoyable and fun-filled , milestone comedy which neatly combines humor , mirth , Samba dancing , entertaining situations and amusement . Flawless story with a trio of sensational protagonists , Hugh Laurie as a clerk getting into trouble , Santiago Segura as cab driver Paulo and including an unforgettable Vanessa Nunes who plays a Samba dancer , she parades sexily at her best and more relaxed and enticing than ever . Fun acting by Hugh Laurie as a mild-mannered banker finds himself living out his wildest dreams . The hit of the show is undoubtedly for the fetching Hugh Laurie who gives one of the best screen acting . I liked everyone in the excellent cast, and the male and female actors , especially Vanessa Nunes as exotic samba dancer , were all very attractive . I have seen many, Hollywood-romantic-comedies that couldn't compare with this one, but many give them a higher rating because they are Hollywood-made . The screenplay manages a lot of laughs from the audience and romantic elements that you never loose your attention from the film . This movie is a lot of fun and well worth the time. I enjoyed the film tremendously and I guarantee you that if you rent it, you'll enjoy it and have a few laughs . It was funny , great actors and a super soundtrack full of Samba music and Bossa Nova . Furthermore , a colorful and evocative cinematography by Jose Luis Alcaine who was first cinematographer to use fluorescent tube as "key" lightning and deemed to be one of the best Spanish cameraman . Alcaine frequently works with Pedro Almodóvar , Bigas Luna and Vicente Aranda , as he has photographed ¨The skin I live in¨ , The bad education¨ , ¨Volver¨ , ¨Women in the verge of a nervous breakdown¨, among others .
The motion picture produced by the great producer Andres Vicente Gomez was well directed by Christopher Monger , a little prolific filmmaker who has directed some movies with moderated success such as : ¨Waiting for the light¨ , ¨The Englishman¨ , ¨Just Like a Woman¨and this ¨Girl from Rio¨ , also titled ¨La ragazza di Rio¨ or ¨A Garota do Rio Brazil¨ or ¨La Chica De Rio¨ . Rating : Good and charming picture , worthwhile seeing . The flick will appeal to Hugh Laurie fans .
