Written by: Dominicus at 6:55 pm
Filed under: Comedy,Movies
Writer: Marcos Caruso, Jandira Martini
Director: Bruno Barreto
Cast: Marco Ricca, Luana Piovani, Leonardo Miggiorin, Luis Gustavo, Martha Mellinger
Rating: Unrated
Studio: Lifesize Entertainment
Release Date: February 5, 2008
The idea of the romantic comedy is one that has been hashed and re-hashed over a million different times in many different ways. You see girls who love and lose, boys who love and lose, couples who cannot stay together, and couples that come together in the end. Generally, in the midst of these films, there are only two requirements. The movie needs to have a couple, no matter how unlikely, who find love and the movie has to have elements of humor, no matter how cheesy or predictable. All of this being said, Romeo and Juliet Get Married is not going to offer one thing that a romantic comedy fan hasn’t seen before.
It’s a story so common they even covered it in the direct to DVD release of Bring it On: In it to Win it. It’s about “star crossed lovers” or so it was said by the great Shakespeare. This is, in a sense, what Romeo and Juliet Get Married is all about. Offering an incredibly predictable storyline, this version attempts to offer a new spin on Romeo and Juliet by making them soccer players. Whether this works for you will likely depend on how much you like the idea and the sport.
Release Information:
Bruno Barreto released this movie in Brazil in 2005 where it was a smash hit. Since then, this movie has been brought to the United States. It was released by Lifesize Entertainment on February 5, 2008. The film is in Portuguese with English and Spanish subtitles. You can pick this up at various retail stores or you can head over to Amazon where you will find it for around $18.
The Romeo and Juliet Get Married Plot
Romeo and Juliet Get Married attempts to remake the tragic tale of star crossed lovers that has been done over and over, time and time again. This makeover comes with the addition of soccer. From the start, this romance of lovers on different sides of the fence (or team, as the case may be) attempts to inject humor using sports fanaticism as the comic relief of the movie.
Romeo (Marco Ricca) and Juliet (Luana Piovani) are diehard fans and players that just happen to love differing teams. To add insult to injury, Juliet’s father is the president of the Palmeiras’ fan club. Meanwhile, Romeo’s son and grandmother (played by Berta Zemel) are huge Corinthian fans. With this in mind, it only makes sense to hide their sports affiliations from the opposite family for the sake of their relationship.
This means that Romeo, who must pretend to be a Palmeiras fan, will have to endure fan club meetings, games on the wrong side of the stadium, and a stint wearing the team colors. However amusing this may sound, things end up getting incredibly predictable. Eventually, the secret comes out (it always does) and the couple has to struggle to keep their relationship together even though the families would be happier seeing them apart. The dysfunctional family’s ideas differ on politics, life, and everything else, which only serves to make things harder. Soccer is just one of the many problems they face.
The biggest change here for American audiences would be the love of soccer. While soccer isn’t very popular in the states, imagine football or baseball families. Seeing a couple where one loves Michigan and the other loves Ohio State is rare and even then, you can bet the two probably don’t talk football, except for the constant jeering when the other team loses.
While this movie is watchable for the most part (there are some funny moments) the whole remake mixed with various clichés make it more of a waste of time than anything. Romantic comedy lovers will eat it up, but everyone else will be more than happy to toss it right out the window.
Storyline/Plot: 
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:
Audio/Visual:
The video for Romeo and Juliet Get Married is fairly soft for being shot in anamorphic 1.85:1. It has that television show look as opposed to a full feature film. Other than being rather soft, the picture quality is watchable as long as you’re not expecting a real sharp picture.
The sound, which is Dolby Digital 2.0 is bland, but it works more reliably than the video quality does. Both of these could have used some cleaning up and perhaps a nice remastering. Of course, when the movie isn’t that great to begin with, there is little point in pushing the quality of the audio and video to that next level.
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Audio:
Bonus Features:
As with all movies that do not seem to need them, you receive a ton of bonus features. You can enjoy commentary with the cast and director, interviews with the cast and crew, and featurettes that deal with making the movie and the soundtrack for the movie. There is also a trailer and a music video included in the feature set, as well.
Bonus Features:
Bottom Line:
Romeo and Juliet Get Married is a farcical romantic comedy that looks at the absurdity of star crossed lovers that are obsessed with sports. Granted, it was an interesting spin to put on this type of movie. However, at the same time, it was predictable, in part, throughout the movie and the ending was clear long before the credits start to roll. If you are looking for a movie with a solid plot and an intellectual journey, this isn’t it. If you want something mindless and amusing with good acting, you might want to rent this, because, who knows? You might actually like it.
Overall Rating:
Technorati Tags: Lifesize Entertainment, DVD Review, Movie, Comedy, Romance, Romeo & Juliet
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Written by Dominicus - Visit Website
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At 23 years old, I feel that I've lived enough life to share my opinion with the world. That's what I'm doing here, as a writer, for Literary Illusions. I was born in Florida, raised in California, and currently living in Colorado, where I go to a small school in the middle of nowhere. Majoring in Business Administration, I have the goal of one day ruling the world. Interests in life include dating, movies, sports, hanging out with friends, drinking, bar hopping, and writing in both an inebriated and sober state.
