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A rom-com that mostly dabbles in nonsense. |
| Luiz (Caio Castro) is happily single. Going from girl to girl before any of them get too clingy. And then his mother falls ill and has one dying wish for Luiz: he gets married, or else she’ll cut him out of her will. Someone Borrowed is a Brazilian rom-com with a plot similar to the American Holidate, but even less grounded. Luiz quickly abandons the idea of actually falling in love, and decides to hire an actress to play his fiancée. | 2022 Directed by: Cris D'Amato Screenplay by: Luanna Guimaraes Starring: Caio Castro, Thati Lopes | |
| There’s a lot of insane people to go around. Especially Luiz’s mother, and Luiz’s sisters, and Luiz, and Lina. They all have insane plans with lots of insanity ensuing, very little of which is actually funny. Comedy tends to be born from at least a kernel of truth. But when nothing is sane, and nothing is grounded, the comedy just erratically fizzles away. Lina (Thati Lopes) is at least fun. And she has a good reason for doing all this – money. A struggling actress about to be convicted from her apartment, she long ago opted for playing pretend people in real life. Apparently, it’s easier than finding work in actual movie or theatrical productions. I told you this movie isn’t grounded at all. Meanwhile one of Luiz’s sisters has decided that his relationship with Lina is a scam so she’s tailing them, Lina’s all for creating a big production out of their relationship, and for some reason Luiz is still tying to maintain a real relationship with another girl on the side, despite the fact that he doesn’t want to be in a relationship. The plot is just a whole bunch of deception going around, which is vaguely amusing but not all that funny. On the romance side, Luiz and Lina are both insane, so they could make a good couple. Lina is absolutely charming and adorable and I have no doubt that she could see through all of Luiz’s fake promises, but Luiz is an insufferable man-boy and he would have no clue if Lina is acting or being herself. Probably best just to pair them up and the audience can be glad these people don’t exist in real life. Someone Borrowed is a completely unrealistic rom-com which goes too far in nonsense to be funny enough. There’s a twist near the end which just aids in more nonsense. With a lot of rom-com tropes in play, the romance is expected but not earned. | ||