Rating: 
Summary: Funny and sexy
Review: "Blame it on Rio" is a cute and funny film which manages to be a wish-fulfilment fantasy for middle-aged men, and tell a good story at the same time.Michael Cane is perfect as the man in a doubful marriage, who is hit on suddenly by his best friend's daughter, Jennifer, played by the voluptous and pretty Michelle Johnson. Of course that is a doubtful proposition, since he is over twice her age (Michelle was only eighteen when she played this), and since he is vacationing not only with her, but with her father, who is his best friend, and with his own daughter, who is her best friend! The story is funny and entertaining, and Jennifer is dead sexy. I find it hard to imagine resisting if she threw herself at you. It must be said that beautiful Demi Moore is underused as Nikki, the best friend. Especially in the underdressed scenes, too little of that. I suspect she was having ego problems against Michelle's bigger bosom. This would explain why she later got a boob job, as seen in (the underrated) Striptease. Very dumb move, in my opinion. She was perfect.
Rating: 
Summary: Good movie to watch late at night
Review: "Blame It On Rio" is one of my favorite films. The great scenery of Rio De Janeiro is one of the perks of watching this. It's kinda like watching a travelogue of the city that's a 24-hour carnival. The film is packed with memorable lines as well ("They looked at us, let's go talk to them,"says Victor. "They're practically nude," Matthew states. Victor's response? "Try to picture them with clothes on"). Michelle Johnson won a Razzie for her performance as Jennifer, which I didn't think was that bad. Demi Moore's performance, on the other hand, takes some getting used to. Michael Caine, always the top-rate performer, doesn't disappoint in this one. His performance is honest and well-meaning. There are one small fault in the film though: the soundtrack. I'm not talking about the bossa-nova or nightclub music, but the outdated 80s music. There is one song in the film that gets played over and over again. By the end of the film, the song will not leave your head LOL. That doesn't matter though. It doesn't take away the film's entertainment value. It is still a fun film to watch and make you laugh.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Vacation
Review: "Blame It On Rio" is like taking a great vacation of fun, sun and no inhibitions. The setting is beautiful Rio de Janeiro and the film gives an honest impression of the city...beautiful beaches, Bossa Nova flavored music, tropical climate. Michael Caine is hilarious, Joseph Bologna a perfect comical foil to Caine, Michelle Johnson sweet and innocent(?), and Demi Moore likeable and levelheaded. I saw this movie for the first time when I was about Michelle Johnson's age and when I saw the film recently, it brought back wonderful memories of that time in the 80s. The film is a not-so-implausible plot of a middle-aged man (Caine) spending a vacation in Brazil with his daughter (Moore),his best friend (Bologna) and his best friend's daughter (Johnson). Valerie Harper plays Caine's wife, who backs out of the vacation to Rio at the last minute and packs for Bahia. "Must have been the free and easy laughter in the air...must have been the moonlight on the sea..." Caine has an affair with his best friend's daughter (Johnson)and the comedy ensues. "Blame It On Rio" is just plain old fun with great scenery, great quotes (Johnson to Caine "That's not you life line, that's your heart line" and Caine's reply "Teeny little thing isn't it"), and great comedy!
Rating:
Summary: Good movie to watch late at night
Review: "Blame It On Rio" is one of my favorite films. The great scenery of Rio De Janeiro is one of the perks of watching this. It's kinda like watching a travelogue of the city that's a 24-hour carnival. The film is packed with memorable lines as well ("They looked at us, let's go talk to them,"says Victor. "They're practically nude," Matthew states. Victor's response? "Try to picture them with clothes on"). Michelle Johnson won a Razzie for her performance as Jennifer, which I didn't think was that bad. Demi Moore's performance, on the other hand, takes some getting used to. Michael Caine, always the top-rate performer, doesn't disappoint in this one. His performance is honest and well-meaning. There are one small fault in the film though: the soundtrack. I'm not talking about the bossa-nova or nightclub music, but the outdated 80s music. There is one song in the film that gets played over and over again. By the end of the film, the song will not leave your head LOL. That doesn't matter though. It doesn't take away the film's entertainment value. It is still a fun film to watch and make you laugh.
Rating:
Summary: One of Caine's better films of this period
Review: A wonderful little film, Blame It On Rio is in danger of being lost amongst the Caine classics. The director is veteran Stanley Donen who gave us Seven Brides For Seven Brothers and Singin In The Rain, but there's little in common with this film, which is part farce, part promotional film for Rio. Michael Caine is at his comic best, with Joe Bologna providing able support as a good friend who could turn very nasty if he finds out Caine has been sleeping with his daughter. Rhoda's Valerie Harper is under-used as Caine's wife, making only brief appearances. The two young stars make a great impression as the uninhibited daughters of Caine and Bologna. Michelle Johnson is outstanding and it is a wonder she didn't go on to become as big a star as Demi Moore. Amusingly, she revealed in interview that "Michael gave me little hints, like never, never to blink during a close-up". She obviously hasn't seen the Michael Caine acting masterclass! There are some great visuals, good comic dialogue, and the music adds to the sense of fun.
Rating:
Summary: Superb Humor and Drama
Review: All fans of "Michael Caine" will love this movie. He displays his ability to be both dramatical and humerous in a love story, ending a long term companionship. A movie for those who enjoy films from the 70's, 80's, and 90's.
Rating:
Summary: Michelle Johnson's first movie
Review: Back when this movie came out, Michelle Johnson figured prominently in the ads. So what happens? Lower billed co-star Demi Moore becomes a big star, and poor Michelle winds up doing B-fare like Waxworks. This is still a good movie, and if you want to see Michelle in another good role, order Body Shot.
Rating: 
Summary: Why it's worth watching
Review: Come on guys lets be honest...Only reason to watch this is Michelle Johnson. She has an amazing body, and she's topless in several scenes. If Mindy Cohen (Facts of Life) played the part this video would have been out of print by 1988.
Rating:
Summary: I blame it on the director
Review: Drippy for the most part. One has to blush for Michael Caine who is miscast as a middle aged man who gets seduced by his best friend's daughter while on vacation in Rio De Janeiro. I had the sense that Brazilian Airlines, or whoever, and the Brazilian tourist bureau fronted the funds for this turkey. Perhaps some old boys club as well since this is fantasy wish fulfillment for middle-aged men, pure and simple. This was supposed to be a comedy, a remake of the Claude Berri French film entitled One Wild Moment (1978), but the laughs really don't materialize (there are a few chuckles), and anyway you practically have to be French to make this sort of tale work. Either that or play it full out as a farce. Nonetheless, there must have been some reason I kept watching, since I have no desire to see Michael Caine make a fool of himself (in those huge, ugly glasses with the plastic brown frames), and that reason is Michelle Johnson, who does the seducing. She is very pretty and delightfully sexy and so beguiling that I almost believe her. But enough about my fantasies. Joseph Bologna plays the girl's father and Caine's best friend in his usual cynical, wise-cracking style, kind of like the low rent Mafia boss/used car salesman persona that he wears so well. Demi Moore has a small part as Caine's daughter, but there is no evidence here to account for her becoming a box office star in the nineties. Valerie Harper plays Caine's wife, who is sick of him and his lack of demonstrativeness and goes on a separate vacation. Caine's superb timing and great concentration as an actor are in evidence, but somehow he just doesn't quite make it as a poor sap who is torn between lust and propriety. Stanley Donen (Singing in the Rain (1952), The Pajama Game (1957), Charade (1963), Indiscreet (1958), etc.) directed and was clearly off his best form or past his prime. Or maybe he just wanted to indulge himself an old guy's daydream.
Rating:
Summary: Warm, funny postcard from Rio de Janeiro
Review: Gorgeous cinematography, great samba-tinged soundtrack, a hilarious script, and a wonderful cast make this a very enjoyable film. It remains as fresh, warm, and funny as it was when it was first released. Michael Caine's comic timing is, as always, dead on, Michelle Johnson conveys both innocence and teenage hormone-psychosis perfectly, and Joseph Bologna and Valerie Harper are the right combination of buffoonery and bitterness. I think the irreverence and intelligence of the film shows through in the smallest details: the advice of the umbanda woman, the uncommunicative maid, the camera-happy Japanese tourist, the very English Peter and Elaine, etc. With a less sensitive, less intelligent script, this could have been a tawdry tale of illicit love, but instead it is a delicately-crafted farce which perfectly captures the hedonism and sensuality of a cidade maravilhosa, Rio de Janeiro.
|
