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Reviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
Directed by Bruno Barreto Produced by Paula Barreto Written by Marcos Caruso & Jandira Martini Released by LifeSize Entertainment Language: Portuguese with English subtitles Brazil. 90 mins. Not Rated Special Features: Director & cast commentary. Cast & crew interviews. Making of the film & making of the soundtrack featurettes. A music video. Trailer. English & Spanish subtitles With Luana Piovani, Marco Ricca, Luiz Gustavo, Martha Mellinger & Berta Zemel Shakespeare's tragic love story gets yet another make-over, tailored to fit the wonderful world of soccer. Directed by Bruno Barreto (View from the Top), Romeo & Juliet Get Married inserts a jolt of comic raucousness into the doomed romance, casting Marco Ricca and Luana Piovani as Romeo and Juliet – lovers who happen to root for rival soccer teams. In order to avoid the wrath of their families – Juliet's father being president of the Palmeiras's fan club and both Romeo's son and grandmother (the formidable Berta Zemel) being hard-core Corinthian fanatics – they conceal their opposing allegiances. For the benefit of Juliet's soccer-crazed father Alfredo (the energetically demonstrative Luiz Gustavo), Romeo pretends to be a passionate Palmeiras fan. Not only does he wear the Palmeiras colors, but he sits amongst the enemy at matches (albeit cringing every time they score), and in a botched effort to come clean with Alfredo, he finds himself engaged to Juliet and only temporarily saved from joining the Palmeiras fan club by two stress-induced fainting spells. Once a full-fledged club member, Romeo is dragged by Alfredo and a whole plane load of Palmeiras fans to a match in Tokyo.
The film turns pretty predictable once Romeo’s secret is out and he and Juliet struggle to make their love accepted by their respective kin, who go
head-to-head in the free-for-all climax. It may be difficult for American audiences to swallow the exaggerated complications brought on by two
families with opposing soccer loyalties (especially when the sport takes a backseat to this country's more popular baseball and football pastimes),
but, after all, this is a comedy. The loud and inflated conflict among the families probably works better metaphorically; instead of soccer, the
divisive issue could have been religion, politics, or ethnicity. And despite a clichéd title that acts as an instant turn-off, Romeo & Juliet Get Married
is a refreshingly absurd and lighthearted take on the classic tale, with a completely different ending. B. Bastron
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