Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

Jakoba True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

lastliberal They loved this film in Miami, giving Murilo Benício a Best Actor award, and giving José Henrique Fonseca Best Director, and naming it the Best Film of the Brazilian Film Festival. It won other awards elsewhere, and had seven nominations.Everything I have read says it is a true depiction of live on the periphery of Rio. It's not City of God, but more a Tarantino version of El Mariachi.Máiquel (Benício) loses a soccer bet and has to dye his hair blond. He is dissed by Suel (Wagner Moura) over the hair, and he ends up killing him. He immediately goes from being an unemployed bum, to local hero.Not only does he now have an income source, he has an amazing babe in Cledir (Cláudia Abreu). He also has an extra babe in Erica (Natália Lage), who was Suel's girl. Of course, she is only 15, so he plays nice.Cledir immediately gets pregnant, and a wedding is planned. How can he resist that smile? Well, despite her obvious strong points, the fact that she cooked his pig was a definite negative.He is hired as a hit man by a local dentist (Jorge Dória) to get revenge on the man who raped his daughter. Soon, he is taking jobs from the dentist's friends. Coked up and getting the feel for killing, he soon takes a different look at Erica.Why the necessity of a hit man? Apparently the police are ineffective in the outlying areas. If you want justice, you get it yourself. Hell, the police go into partnership with him! But things are not going great on the home front. The relationship with Erica really messes thing up - and she's found religion! Lots of action, good music, and Murilo Benício was great.

benjaoming or that's what we say in Denmark. Anyways, this movie starts out extremely well - actually like a masterpiece. There are great characters and some really creative twists amongst the characters that stand out as so unrealistic and it gives the movie a kind of surreal touch because it simply works. Also there's the whole social commentary thing going on - same theme as in La Zona. It's good for about two thirds.But then the movie begins to act out like any of those Snatch-inspired shoot 'em up action movies. Trust me, the end really doesn't match the beginning and should be viewed with extreme caution! La Zona took things a little too far, but at least managed to keep its style. Man of the Year totally loses its style.

gradyharp Murilo Benecio is a young Brazilian actor who just keeps turning out fine, solid and very different character roles. As the leading character is this well made film by director Jose Henrique Fonseca from a script written by his father Rubem Fonseca in turn based on the novel 'O Matador' by Patricia Melo, Benecio molds a memorable portrait of a man of low self esteem who is strangely and inadvertently raised to the level of hero in the most bizarre of circumstances.The setting is Rio de Janiero and Maiquel is a loner looking for an identity. On a bet he decides to have his dark hair bleached by the beautiful beautician Cledir (Claudia Abreu) and finds that as he steps back into his world he is the object of notice. After a cruel teasing by thug Suel (Wagner Moura) he buys a gun and almost unwittingly kills Suel who dies in the arms of his girlfriend Erica (Natalia Lage). Despite Maiquel's fears of his arrest he finds that the neighborhood rewards him for ridding them of a criminal and Maiquel becomes a hero. Not only is he rewarded with gifts (including a pet pig he names Bill after watching Bill Clinton's visit to Brazil on TV!), he is also given free dental work by Dr. Carvalho (Jorge Doria) in exchange for agreeing to kill an enemy of the dentist. More and more people ask Maiquel to whack bad people making Maiguel's new blond persona a hit man and man of the year. How he ultimately begins to spiral downward when his life is complicated by a marriage and family and holding a regular job forces him to initiate his own choices of violence and return to his original hair color to alter his destiny! If the story sounds odd, it is really a depiction of life in the city of Rio where the police are impotent to control the violence that prevails. Maiquel becomes the Robin Hood/Batman type who brings a degree of safety to his community. Wisely Benecio holds our attention and our compassion as he performs his many murders, creating a man in whom we can believe and applaud despite the grim things he does.The cast is uniformly fine and the cinematography by Breno Silveira and the musical score by Dado Villa-Lobos (an important guitar player, relation to composer Heitor Villa-Lobos unknown!) is classy. This is yet another fine film from Brazil, in Portuguese, and one that deserves wide attention - especially for Murilo Benecio's superb performance. Recommended. Grady Harp

Splattii What can I say about The Man of the Year other than SEE THIS NOW. I'd like to start by saying that I don't really understand all the comparisons to City of God. I am a HUGE fan of City of God, and I even have Palace II on DVD which seems to be a rarity. I went into The Man of the Year with high hopes, and although they were met, I just don't see the resemblance to COG. I understand it's Brazilian and there are guns / gangs involved but that's about it in my eyes. I'm sure many will disagree with me, but I guess that's why there are multiple user comments.The best way I can describe this film is El Mariachi meets Tarentino. It seems to be more of a play on El Mariachi in my opinion, however it still manages to be unique enough to make it a story of it's own. There are some comedic moments in which I found myself laughing, while at other moments I felt myself getting excited and filled with tension as I wondered what was going to happen next. When it was all said and done however, this movie was fantastic. I don't want to give much away and other users have basically outlined the plot, so I'll leave it at that. A great film, and a film I hope many people have a chance to see.I got my copy from Film Movement, and I have to say this little company is really delivery some quality film. People should pay more attention to them.