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Bossa Nova
Sony Pictures Classics
FILM:
MPAA RATING: R for language and some sex content
Starring
Amy Irving,
Antonio Fagundes,
and
Alexandre Borges
A struggling Brazilian lawyer (Fagundes) is surrounded by failed romance. Mary Ann (Irving) is an American English teacher still recovering from the loss of her husband two years earlier. Alone and unhappy, both have nearly given up hope of finding their lifelong soul-mate. (Sony Pictures)
| GENRE(S): |
Romance
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Alexandre Machado
Sérgio Sant'Anna (story)
Fernanda Young
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Bruno Barreto
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: December 26, 2000
Video: October 3, 2000
Theatrical: April 28, 2000
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
95 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
Brazil / USA |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
88
Philadelphia Inquirer
Carrie Rickey
Not only is Bossa Nova a lovely romance, but one can say, as one can about few films, that it is restorative as a vacation.
88
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
The story is slender, but the Brazilian settings are exquisite and lilting tunes by Antonio Carlos Jobim cast a spell over the entire enterprise.
80
Variety
Joe Leydon
Imagine a '30s screwball comedy played to a sensuous Brazilian beat and you're ready for Bossa Nova, a delightfully amusing romantic roundelay.
80
Film.com
Elizabeth Weitzman
Despite the frivolous feel, it's clear the director intends for Bossa Nova to be a love letter to his two passions: Brazil and his leading lady (who's also his real-life wife). Neither lets him down.
75
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
The air smells sweet and there's a thrumming beat in Bossa Nova.
75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
A cheerful and stylish romantic comedy that's easy on the eyes and ears, and makes few demands on the intellect.
75
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
Isn't great. But I had fun watching.
75
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
A breezy, elegant charmer of a movie.
75
Boston Globe
Jay Carr
One of the most warmly beguiling romantic comedies the Southern Hemisphere has sent our way in ages.
70
Chicago Reader
Lisa Alspector
The coincidences that bring some characters together and keep others apart in this romantic comedy are plotted with musical grace.
70
The New York Times
A.O. Scott
There must be a name for a picture so inconsequential, in which the music provides so much of the chemistry that you get the feeling Bossa Nova would be funereal without it.
67
Portland Oregonian
Shawn Levy
May not carry great emotional or intellectual weight, but, in a slim and fetching way, it's peachy.
63
Miami Herald
Marta Barber
Romantic comedy that softens your date into giving you that first kiss. It's not much more than that -- it's flawed and somewhat unfocused.
60
Newsweek
Donna Freydkin
Sort of like a Jennifer Lopez video: pretty to look at, easy on the ears, but ultimately completely vacuous and lackluster.
50
San Francisco Examiner
G. Allen Johnson
Like sitting on the beach under a cozy, warm afternoon sun. The view is beautiful, but not much is happening and soon you drift peacefully to sleep.
50
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
The city looks breathtakingly lovely, the movie's Brazilian characters are charming and filled with joie de vivre, and using excerpts would take care of the fact that the pacing's a bit sluggish for such fluffy material.
50
San Francisco Chronicle
Peter Stack
Does have a certain classy charm because of its upscale setting. One could wait for the video.
50
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Thomas
Tilts toward the slight and merely pleasant when it could have had much more emotional impact.
45
Mr. Showbiz
Richard T. Jameson
Bossa Nova has no beat.
40
LA Weekly
Ella Taylor
This suffocatingly pleasant cross between "Sliding Doors" and "Six Degrees of Separation" is barely rescued by one beautiful scene.
40
Austin Chronicle
Marc Savlov
It's a feast of inconsequentiality, though, a love affair-lite that looks great but is ultimately less filling than a sunny summer Sunday's creampuff dream.
30
Dallas Observer
Gregory Weinkauf
Sits before us like an exquisite platter of wax fruit, colorful, flavorless, and, if you eat it, very likely to come back up.
20
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
Unromantic, nonsexual and hellaciously dull.
 The average user rating for this movie is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 1 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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