Moon Over Parador

Rating:
Summary: Paraguay - Ecuador
Review: Fabulous movie! Did you know the movie Title is actually a combination of Paraguay and Ecuador? I was formerly a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador and traveled extensively in Paraguay. This movie is a great spoof (in a tender/humorous way) of the prototypical "banana republic". There is more than a little truth in this satire. Required viewing for any Latin American studies majors. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Romance, Adventure & Action
Review: I love this movie, it has everything, love,romance, action, satire, and even Julio Inglesias singing a beautiful love song. Fimed on location in San Salvador, Brazil. Richard Dreyfuss, Raul Julia and Sonia Braga give sterling performances! Raul Julia is magical in his authentic potrayal of a passive aggressive Head of the National Police. Sonia is perfect as the experienced courtesan who teaches Richard EVERYTHING she knows about the dictator. Richard is superb as the lead with his comic potrayal of an actor in a situation that is incrdibly complex. The modern version of Casablanca. Veteran funny man, Jonathan Winters is excellent in his role.The humour, directing and stunts are A1. Mazursky who directed cult movie Down And Out In Beverly Hills is a brilliant director.

Rating:
Summary: Moon Over Parador
Review: Its president greets an actor finishing up a movie in a Latin American country. The actor shows his talent for mimicking the president. Naturally the people that really run the country is observing this. After the president dies from overindulging in the local food and drink called "Puma" The actor is recruited to keep the country stable.

Take the time to look at the list of actors in the movie as even thought a hand full take the show, there are many major (and minor) popular actors in this movie. Just a few are:

Dana Delany as Becky in " Housesitter" (1992) ASIN: 6302579449

Richard Dreyfuss as Roy Neary in " Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1977) ASIN: 0767827031

Raul Julia as Archbishop Oscar Romero in " Romero" (English Version) (1989) ASIN: 6301589068

Jonathan Winters as Whoppa Chopper Pilot/Ohio Cop with Bullhorn/Jeb in Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (2000) ASIN: B00003CXJ9

There is some Social redeeming value in this movie and a lot of one liners.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining Spoof on Latin American Politics
Review: When I first saw this movie over a decade ago, I was so happy to see that Hollywood decided to film a movie about the political charade many Latin American republics of that era were involved in. Except for a few democracies, Latin American was still a mecca for dictators and coup d'etat's.

Parador (must me a hybrid of the countries "Paraguay" and "Ecuador" since Parador in Spanish means "inn") is a country in a deep crisis. Their dictator has died mysteriously and the oligarchy that really rules the country is looking for someone to take his place. Enter Richard Dreyfuss, a struggling New York actor who gets the role of a lifetime playing a third-world despot. At first he finds it amusing, but later realizes that the charade he is performing is really hurting the people he is supposed to rule.

Filmed in Minas Gerais, Brazil, "Moon Over Parador" features that talents of some of Latin America's best actors. Puerto Rican actor Raul Julia and Brazilian actress Sonia Braga both steal the show as the president's advisor and mistress respectively. I was happy to see Spanish singer Charo in a small role as one of the president's maids and the ambiance of a small Latin American republic is perfectly captured by director Paul Mazurksy ("Down and Out in Beverly Hills").

This is a film that deserves to be on DVD. It is one of the 1980's hidden gems, and hopefully Universal will release it in the DVD format it rightfully deserves to be on. "Moon Over Parador" outranks Woody Allen's "Bananas" as the best spoof of Latin American politics ever made. It's a comedic masterpiece.