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28 out of 29 people found the following review useful: A Hilarious Love Story of a Bank Clerk that Robs a London Bank and Goes to Rio de Janeiro to Find a Samba Dancer, 6 August 2003 Author: Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Raymond (Hugh Laurie) is a bank clerk that dream on Rio de Janeiro and the samba dancer Orlinda (the beautiful and exotic Vanessa Nunes). He has a secret class of samba at night, where he teaches the rhythm and how to dance samba to British persons. One day, he finds that his wife is cheating him with his boss and he decides to rob the bank and go to Rio de Janeiro to meet his passion. In the arrival, he meets the cab driver Paulo (Santiago Segura), an authentic 'malandro carioca' (smart guy born in Rio) and he crosses the way of the powerful 'bicheiro' (owner of an illegal and popular Brazilian lottery, called 'jogo de bicho' – translating, would be animal lottery). This movie is really very funny. I watched it just to see what type of movie could a Spanish-British production offer about Rio de Janeiro, and I was indeed surprised. They use all the stereotypes that you can imagine: the Englishman that robs a bank and goes to Rio de Janeiro, the smart taxi driver, the samba dancer, the 'bicheiro', the slums, the samba school, the corruption. For locals like me, there are many funny non-senses: Raymond arrives from London in our domestic airport (Santos Dumont), instead of our international airport (Tom Jobim). The geography of Rio de Janeiro was completely disregarded: when a character crosses a tunnel, or climbs a slum, in the next scene he will be in a completely different area of Rio de Janeiro. Another funny situation is when the money is flying over the slum: please note in the right side of the TV screen and you will see a man throwing money for the shot. Anyway, this movie is very funny and Hugh Laurie is perfect, with his British behavior and lost as a tourist in Rio. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Garota do Rio" ("Girl of Rio")
13 out of 14 people found the following review useful: The "S" Word, 19 July 2003 Author: family1 from Siesta Key, FL
It's hard for me not to like a movie that: A) takes place in an exotic tropical country B) has the protagonist sleeping with his dream girl after knowing her an hour, and C) has a happy ending. These qualities nearly compensate for the weaknesses of The Girl From Rio.The plot of this Hollywood Film Festival winner is pedestrian and slack. You gotta like this Raymond guy, though.Raymond (Hugh Laurie) is a bank clerk with a thoroughly unlikable boss, a cuckolding wife, and an endearing passion for Salsa dancing. Laurie's is the film's only real nuanced performance. No matter what he's saying or doing, his eyes betray him. His ubiquitous fear that the world is a dangerous and scary place has become his reality. It's clear, however, that beneath his pitifully polite and feckless British demeanor is a simmering frustration. Whatever you do, don't confuse Salsa with Bossa Nova. That makes Raymond really angry.Raymond quietly endures his mostly comfortable life until, quite suddenly, the machinations of his wife and boss render him alone and disconsolate. A coworker commiserates, `It could be worse,' and Rodney does his best to prove his friend right by filling a duffle bag with all the bank's cash on Christmas Eve and hopping a flight to Rio de Janeiro.Enter The Girl. `S' words come to mind. Sultry. Sensual. Sizzling. Steamy. Vanessa Nunes's Orlinda is a famous Brazilian Samba dancer whose mere picture fuels Raymond's first-class flight from sanity. Then it's this pesky plot stuff again. Paulo, the taxi driver (Raymond's seedy, hapless Sancho Panza) just happens to know Orlinda. They meet, they dance down a Brazilian calle accompanied by a thousand musicians and acolytes, they go to his room, they make love. As much as I was rooting for old Raymond, I felt vaguely ripped off.Not nearly as ripped off as Raymond, however.Everyone in this film has a secret. Raymond. Olinda. (`You're just a thief like me,' she tells him.) His boss. His wife. Paulo. Even the painfully anachronistic villain.As I mentioned, everything turns out just fine. Even the obscene economic disparity of Rio (better portrayed in 1999's Orfeu) is corrected in authentic Robin Hood fashion.Did I mention the villain? They made him carry a little dog.
4 out of 4 people found the following review useful: Surprisingly watchable..., 2 August 2006 Author: El_Farmerino_Esq from United Kingdom
...in a you-always-know-exactly-what's-going-to-happen kind of way. Girl From Rio is hardly going to have you glued to the screen, or really make you think in any kind of way, but it makes for a pleasant couple of hours all the same, spattered through with a few decent laughs and the delightful Vanessa Nunes (or, to be more exact, Nunes' delightful backside).Most of the movie's charm is, unsurprisingly, attributable to Laurie's performance; while hardly stretched (Raymond is the sort of character he can probably play in his sleep by now) he nonetheless remains both sympathetic and genuinely likable throughout. So much so, in fact, that you can forgive the quite remarkable implausibility of the whole thing, along with some absolutely horrendous support turns, a lazy script, pedestrian direction and some ridiculous soundtrack choices (such as when Raymond finally gets to dance with Orlinda and the samba beat bizarrely fades into a fromage-encrusted swell of strings). Indeed, that a movie so intrinsically flawed and worthless can be made perfectly enjoyable is a sturdy testament to Laurie's charisma.Well, that and Nunes' arse...
7 out of 11 people found the following review useful: Girl From Rio... and not A British Samba????, 18 February 2006 Author: DrDimensio from United States
Literally a rating for a good story and it is true that Hugh Laurie's Raymond carried the movie. Without his talent and comedic additives this movie wouldn't have a cat's chance in hell of success.The ending is brilliant and unpredictable. The English dialog amongst the non-English characters is ridiculous and typically bad. Last and least, I'll be happy never to see Santiago Segura in anything else ever again. He's fat, sloppy, ugly and how he ever landed a roll in any film (other than snuff) is beyond me.The title makes no sense only because the movie has little to do with the girl... who happens to be from Rio. As my summary suggests something as corny as A British Samba would have actually worked considering what the movie is about. This was actually a great "bad" movie. Definitely my style.
3 out of 5 people found the following review useful: Was this film made in the 70's and only released now???, 3 February 2007 Author: eddieknocker from London
What an odd film. Very dated feel. Could almost be older than the 70's - maybe "Ealing" period. It has a naive charm and is mildly amusing in parts. I think the dated feel is that it was not an English production and was perhaps never intended for release in the U.K.? I could see how it would be popular in Brasil itself and was liked there judging from some of the other IMDb reviewers. I only watched it because of my love for all things Brazilian - wife, food, music etc etc and hence the 7 out of 10 as opposed to the 3 I should have given it.I don't know if I would be able to recommend this to anyone else. Maybe samba-lovers? Hugh Laurie obsessives? 40-something men going through a mid-life crisis???
4 out of 7 people found the following review useful: Great film, should have been a hit, 7 November 2004 Author: cpoustie from Thailand
Being a fan of Hugh Laurie I have spent the last few years trying to track down this hard to find film on DVD. Eventually found an Australian copy on ebay ! Look out for it.After watching the film I was shocked and disappointed at how such a wonderful film could have been so overlooked. This is a film that has a great storyline, excellent cast and locations, great comedy, superb direction and soundtrack....and yet as far as I can tell, was a dismal failure at the box office and is only available on DVD in Norway and Australia - and even there, difficult to find.If you get the chance to rent or buy this DVD - do so immediately - you will not be disappointed.Now where can I buy the soundtrack CD ?
2 out of 4 people found the following review useful: Simple, lighted hearted, amusing fun., 9 July 2002 Author: Peter Aird from London, England
The Girl from Rio is an entertaining diversion. Simple, light hearted and amusing; it is a fun movie with excellent performance from Hugh Laurie who plays his usual bungling but good natured self and Vannesa Nunes is just fantastic.
6 out of 12 people found the following review useful: A lame pseudo-Latino flick, 21 November 2005 Author: Zsofi from Ottawa
This was one of the lamest movies we watched in the last few months with a predictable plot line and pretty bad acting (mainly from the supporting characters). The interview with Hugh Laurie on the DVD was actually more rewarding than the film itself...Hugh Laurie obviously put a lot of effort into learning how to dance the Samba but the scope of his character only required that he immerse himself at the kiddie end of the pool. The movie is based on the appearance of a lovely girl and great music but these are not sufficient to make good entertainment.If you have never seen Rio, or the inside of a British bank, this film is for you. 2 out of 10.
3 out of 7 people found the following review useful: Don't confuse Salsa with Samba, 29 January 2007 Author: excalibur1308 from United Kingdom
"Who doesn't like Samba, you'd rather not meet There's sick in the head,or lame in the feet"Wrote Dorival Caymmi in 'Samba da Minha Terra'It seems another punter doesn't know the difference between Salsa and Samba. The difference is the same as between Spanish and Portuguese.I arrived at this film by accident. I had video taped it and promptly forgot about it. Then I tried to get through City of God and Favela Rising. I know City of God is well thought of but both films I found upsetting. Drugs, kids, killing, guns and gangsters. Enough of that!As usual I was looking for some spare tape on my badly listed VHS tapes. I fast forwarded a bit, caught the end of another programme I had taped. Then suddenly my favourite Samba beat struck up ! It then alternated with a Northern British brass band. All done in early 1970's bright cartoon style. It was the rhythms that caught my attention. Then came the name of the film ...'The Girl from Rio' I was hooked !The story of this film has already been recounted by previous posters along with the confusion of Salsa and Samba.I must make a confession, I have been to Samba classes just like Raymond ran in the film. This may be one of the reasons I liked it, identification. Of course there were faults. How did Orlinda open the safe in Raymond's room, a nice big combination lock thing? Santos Dumont Airport was used, Raymond takes of in a Boeing 737 and lands in a MD-11. It would not be unusual to take off from Santos Dumont, land in Sao Paulo. Then get the flight to London. Yet does that matter, for the artistic continuity of the film the way it was done was good enough. How many people would know anyway ?I was very envious of Raymond's trip to the Salgueiro Samba School and his girlfriend Orlinda(Vanessa Nunes).When Orlinda appeared out of the crowd of Samba dancers to dance in front of Raymond, I was captivated.The film was a fun piece of nonsense that I found very enjoyable. I loved the twist at the end. I loved the twist of Orlinda as she danced the Samba. So infectious, neither Robert or myself could stay still.Strangely back in 1997 I wrote a story with basic similarities. Check out the link:- 'Sex is Great! If you can get it ?' http://www.geocities.com/cafebrasilia_2000/index5.html
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