The Movie

I'm really not the "romantic comedy" type. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy a good love story, but I could surely live without the usual insipid predictability slapped onto celluloid, edited down to a cineplex-friendly 90-minute turnaround time and toned down to PG-13 to ensure maximum appeal to all ages. Then the studios finds the latest overpaid, undertalented "It" girl, assign her some dialog that is shrill and annoying when it's supposed to be funny, ham handed and grotesquely obvious when it's supposed to be insightful, and annoyingly and melodramatically trite when it's supposed to be emotional, and paste her bloated and wretchedly overexposed mug all over the movie poster to bring in the flocks of drones who march lockstep in line into theaters like automatons in a 1984 Ridley Scott Apple Macintosh commercial. And in case they're worried that the mindless masses might not yet grasp the subtle, wisplike intracies of this high concept vehicle, they saturate the airwaves with trailers and promos that broadcast every last plot contrivance so that Joe and Jane Q. Publicano know exactly what they're in for, from soup to nuts. The thing ends up grossing between $50 and $90 million and becomes a staple on any Turner-derived cable station from now until the next pass of Halley's Comet.

Yeah... I love a good "romantic comedy."

So it's often puzzling when I come across a movie like Passionada. At a glance, the film is almost too easy a target. Set within a Portuguese-American fishing community in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the tale revolves around the relationship between Charlie Beck (Jason Isaacs) and Celia Amonte (Sofia Milos). Charlie is a card shark whose predilection for card-counting at Blackjack tables has gotten him banned from almost every casino in the country. He lives off the good graces of his friends Daniel and Lois Vargas (Seymour Cassel and Theresa Russell), a wealthy, eccentric, but good-natured couple who act as sort-of patrons to his lifestyle. While trying to beat the house at a local casino, Charlie befriends Vicky Amonte (Emmy Rossum), a wide-eyed young girl who is dying to learn the card-counting trade. Charlie refuses at first, but he has a change of heart when he witnesses Vicky's mother Celia singing at a local restaurant. Instantly smitten, Charlie tries to work his way into Celia's good graces, only encountering stern resistance in response. Vicky offers to help him win her mother's heart, if and only if he will teach her how to count cards. In turn, Charlie constructs a false persona for himself, passing himself off as a wealthy yachtsman and using Vicky's "inside information" to get closer to Celia's heart.

Celia is a widow, losing her husband in a fishing accident years before, and has walled herself off to any emotional attachment. Charlie's attention and affection towards her pose a hindrance at first, but slowly she begins to warm up to the charming Englishman. But the persona he is presenting is little more than a lie, and he risks losing the passionate and ravishing Portuguese singer with every passing moment. Can he convince her his love is genuine, even though he's been lying to her all this time? Will the guarded and walled-off Celia ever learn to love openly again, or will she always remain married to a dead man?

The plot is fairly standard soap-opera material, and the script is decidedly simplistic, predictable, and unassuming. The film squeaks by simply on its breezy charm and engaging cast. As the romantic leads, Isaacs and Milos are probably the most attractive couple I've seen onscreen since Clooney and Lopez in Out Of Sight. Isaacs is wonderful at portraying delectably evil characters (witness his turns as onscreen baddies in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and the recent Peter Pan), but here he exhibits smooth charm and natural charisma as a leading man. The unbelievably beautiful Sofia Milos is a captivating actress, and she turns Sofia into a strong, vulnerable, and heart wrenching character. As she croons the sad, beautiful tones of Portuguese fado, she makes her character impossible to resist.

The rest of the cast is notable, especially the wonderful Emmy Rossum as Vicky. I first recognized her talent in Songcatcher, and here she displays a similarly effervescent charm that endears her to you instantly. Where the film falters is that, despite all of its charms (and there are plenty), the story is pretty predictable. The tale is nothing if not cliché - beautiful to look at and populated with engaging actors, but there isn't a single event or plot turn that is even remotely surprising. In the end, Passionada's storyline is cute and sweet but disappointingly generic, no matter how appealing its cast and characters seem to be.

The DVD

Video:

Passionada is presented in a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.35:1, and the transfer has been anamorphically-enhanced for your widescreen-viewing naches . The overall quality of the video is very good, with very few notable flaws. Edge-enhancement is something of a pesky villain here, with noticeable edge haloing apparent throughout the transfer, but the overall quality of the transfer is sharp, clean, and well-rendered. Colors are rich, deep, and vibrant. Compression noise and pixellation are non-existent, resulting in a clean and sharp-looking picture. Contrast levels are delicate and smart, with good use of deep blacks and fine shadow delineation.

Audio: