Just for the record: I try to give every new film a fighting chance...I really do. I wasn't all to excited to check out Christopher Monger's Girl From Rio (2001), if only for the cover blurb: "When in doubt...Samba!" Films that center around dancing really aren't my thing---but, to be honest, Girl From Rio was quite good in many respects. As a romantic comedy/drama, it doesn't break much new ground (sorry, guys), but the film's strengths---including a serviceable pair of leading performances, an offbeat premise, and great cinematography---help to balance out its weaknesses. Well, for the most part, at least.

Here's a brief overview: Raymond (Hugh Laurie) just found out that his wife was having an affair, so what does he do? Why, rob a bank and hop the next to Rio de Janeiro...what else? You see, Raymond's an English clerk with an unusual appetite for Samba music, so he hopes to find his dream girl in South America. Enter Orlinda (Vanessa Nunes), his dream girl: she's graced the cover of Samba Monthly...and honestly, what else could you possibly want in a woman?! He doesn't find her right away, of course; it'll take a bit of snooping around, so Raymond hooks up with an eccentric taxi driver named Paulo (Santiago Segura) to aid him on his quest. Anyway, he finds her and somehow convinces her to spend the night. What he wasn't counting on was that Orlinda would be gone in the morning, along with Raymond's money. Soon enough, the hot water gets really deep.

The oddball twists and turns help to break the usual pattern, but Girl From Rio still follows the path taken by many a romantic adventure before it. Still, I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy Hugh Laurie's performance; it isn't rock-solid the whole way through, but I didn't have much trouble buying him as a leading man. Nunes isn't quite as capable every step of the way, but her charm---and, let's face it, good looks---help her case quite a bit. On top of that, there's some great scenery along the way, making Girl From Rio a modest step up from the genre's typical offering. It may not be quite good enough to watch often, but it's good enough to check out once.

Presented in a modest DVD package from Ventura (under their "Studio Latino" banner), Girl From Rio features a decent technical presentation...but it certainly doesn't go all out with the extras. While fans of the film may look to snap this up, most interested parties will want to dip their toes in the water before jumping in. With that said, let's see how this disc stacks up, shall we?

Although the video presentation could have been a little tighter around the edges, the 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer was still a bit better than I was expecting. The colors are generally on the muted side---though it appears this was intended, and things do brighten up on occasion---and darker scenes are a bit muddy, but it looks pleasing enough to showcase the nice locales. No major digital problems were spotted, save for a bit of interlacing (especially noticeable during the fast dancing scenes, but not terribly distracting). The audio is presented in four separate mixes: English and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 or 2.0 Surround (for the curious, the English is the original language track). There's obviously a lot of music during the film, with each of the mixes displaying nice separation and overall ambience. Dialogue was mostly fine, but there were a few instances where things were a little hard to make out (especially tough since no subtitles are provided). Still, a decent technical presentation that gets the job done fairly well.

Girl from Rio seems like a hard film to really love, because it doesn't always dig below the surface of your typical romantic comedy/drama (but at least there's some nice sights to see along the way). It is likeable on many levels, though your willingness to go along with the film's strange plot twists may waver on occasion. It wasn't really memorable, but it's decent enough to say that there's certainly an audience out there. The disc's relatively low retail price is fitting for its slim amount of content, so interested parties would be much better off trying before buying. Rent It.