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Bossa Nova
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
"Bossa Nova" is a light little romantic comedy, flirty and humorous, but never really going anywhere in particular. The film stars Amy Irving as Mary Ann, an English teacher. One day, an older lawyer named Pedro (Antônio Fagundes) sees her and is instantly in love. But, of course, that's not quite all as Mary Ann's friend is out to find love on her on in virtual ways, and there's also Pedro's intern Sharon.
It's a cute little romantic comedy full of amusing characters bouncing off each other in their search for love. But it never reaches for much more than that, almost feeling like a sitcom at times. It's attempts at romance are better at its attempts at laughs - there's a scene where two of Mary's students are attempting to use American curse words that starts off as funny and then goes way too long for it's own good. I don't mind swear words at all, but the way they are used here is simply not needed, and probably gave (or made sure that the film got) it an R.
It often becomes one of those films where the scenery catches your eye when your ears become bored with listening to the plot. The cinematography captures Rio De Janero wonderfully, and it looks almost impossibly beautiful, with lively, vibrant colors and images. But, as for the movie itself, the performances are rather varied. Irving isn't bad as Mary Ann, but she's never that engaging, nor does she really give the viewer a reason to care about her character - she is also the wife of the director, Bruno Barretto. The other characters are fairly one-dimensional.
Overall, "Bossa Nova" has some fun moments, but really doesn't work as a whole quite as well as it should - and I think it's so-so attempts at humor are part of the problem.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Bossa Nova" may not be problem free in terms of image quality, but if you're looking for a movie that shows off some absolutely stunning colors, look no further. Columbia/Tristar presents the film in it's original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, and it is anamorphic. Much of it is also really quite breathtaking. Sharpness and detail are marvelous, and many scenes display great depth. The Rio De Janero scenery provides many great-looking scenes.
As for problems, there really aren't that many to speak of. I saw a little speckle or two, but that was pretty much all there is to talk about in terms of print flaws. A trace amount of pixelation is visible, but not distracting. Black level is strong, and flesh tones are accurate and natural.
Colors, though... Again, it's rare that I see a movie that provides this many striking colors. Rich blues, vibrant reds, deep greens, they almost pop off the screen at times. This is work from Tristar that's very close to reference quality.
SOUND: The Dolby Digital 5.0 soundtrack isn't quite as remarkable, but mainly because the material doesn't provide it with too many chances to show off. The surrounds really aren't too agressive, mainly used for the musical score, which is often the highlight of the audio. The score comes across as rich and warm, sounding wonderful throughout. As for the dialogue, it sounds clear, but it is also a mixture of English and Portuguese since people speak both in the movie - optional English subtitles are included, though.
MENUS:: Although menus aren't animated, they still contains colorful images that look fine.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary from Bruno Barretto and Amy Irving. It's a pretty uninteresting discussion, with Barretto contributing some enjoyable information about the production and Irving attempting to add some additional tidbits about working with her husband on the movie. The track does tend to ramble at times, with the two going off on some small tales of working on the film, or going into complete silence. This isn't a terrible track by any means, but some of it tends to be slow going.
Making Of: This is a cute, fairly informative 18 minute documentary that takes the viewer to the set of "Bossa Nova" for a look at the production and interviews with the cast. Although somewhat promotional in nature, it does feel more like a "personal" look than most documentaries.
Trailers: Trailers for "Bossa Nova", "East/West", "Tango" and "Central Station".
Also: Isolated score in Dolby Digital 5.0, deleted scene w/commentary and talent files.
Final Thoughts: "Bossa Nova" is probably a good romantic date-rental, fun to watch once but probably not something that most will come back to again and again. Tristar's DVD provides excellent picture quality, along with fine sound quality and some decent extra features.
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