Passionada

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BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> Passionada</div> <div> <IMG SRC="400e5510.png" border=0 width="485" height="337" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="575"><div> Passionada</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="575"><div> <B>êêê</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="575"><div> Rating</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="575"><div> PG 13 </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="575"><div> <B> For some sensuality and a conversation</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="575"><div> <B>Director</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="575"><div>  <A HREF="id2016.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="A Conversation with Dan Ireland"><U>Dan Ireland</U></A></div> </tD> </tR> 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</tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> "Passionada," a soulful new romantic comedy hits the targets that "Le Divorce" (with Kate Hudson and Naomi Watts) aimed at but missed. It looks at the quirky side of people and how love can blossom, or not. This film deals with the culture of Portuguese-Americans as compared to American and French differences (a la "Le Divorce") and pulls it off without being fraudulent. </div> <bR> <div> Celia (Sofia Milos who plays a detective on TV's "CSI: Miami") is a thirty-something widow with a vibrant, beautiful and outgoing 17-year- old daughter, Vicky (Emmy Rossum). Her husband, a fisherman, was lost at sea in a fishing accident. Now, seven years later Celia refuses to seek other companionship, in spite of the urging of her daughter and mother-in-law, Angelica (Lupe Ontiveros of "As Good as it Gets" and "Real Women Have Curves").</div> <div>  </div> <div> On a serendipitous path are Celia, Vicky and Charles Beck (Jason Isaacs of "Black Hawk Down," "The Patriot" and "Harry Potter"). Beck is a card shark who counts cards, and has traveled the world getting banned from casinos. Currently visiting New Bedford, Mass., which has a large Portuguese community, he meets Vicky, who aspires to play cards using her photographic memory. She looks older than 17 (although Emmy Rossum was actually only 14 when the film was made). Beck rightly pushes her off because of her youth…way too young for him. He is visiting his long time friends who spend their time on their sailing yacht, drinking martinis. Like the friends of Ben Kingsley in "Sexy Beast," Beck's friends are retired criminals trying to mix in with polite society.</div> <bR> <div> Celia's one passion, other than the strict raising of Vicky, is to sing the operatically soulful, blues-like Portuguese folk music called "fado," in a local nightclub. Beck sees her and is consumed by the passion she communicates, and in spite of various pick up lines he uses over a period of time, he is constantly rebuffed, sometimes only barely politely. When he finds Celia's home address in the public phone book and shows up at her house, Vicky answers the door. Soon a deal is made that she will fix him up with a date with her mother if he teaches her to count cards. The game is on!</div> <bR> <div> Although the film is conventional in that two people who are at odds with one another early in the film walk off into the sunset by the end, how they get there has a fresh sense of romantic realism. Told with a touch of fairy tale whimsy for adults, like "Mostly Martha," "Italian for Beginners," and "Bread and Tulips," this is a "foreign film" for those who don't like subtitles. The performances in the film are outstanding and anyone who likes romantic comedies with a happy ending will not want to miss this movie.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="621" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="617"><div> George O. Singleton  © 2003</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="617"><div> <A HREF="mailto:george@reelmoviecritic.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:george@reelmoviecritic.com"><U><U>George@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>