PASSIONADA

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 4 out of 5

Because of: implied sexual content

Rated:

Every once in awhile, a really sweet movie comes along. Not so sweet that you can pour it over your pancakes in the morning, but genuinely charming. Passionada is just such a movie. It's not big or important or even impressive, it's just the kind of sweet that will make your mom smile.

Every year in the small Portuguese fishing community of New Bedford, a group of mourners gather to remember those lost to the sea. Among the sober gathering is Celia (Sofia Milos), whose husband drowned seven years before. He was a daily fisherman and left her behind in the care of his mother-in-law Lois (Theresa Russell), with a daughter to support. Vicky (Emmy Rossum) has hit that age where boys are pretty much everything. Or so her mother believes. These "internet dates" her daughters keeps setting up are really just opportunities for her to hit the local casino and hope she's lucky. Having sat down mistakenly at a $50 blackjack table, Vicky makes the unwitting acquaintance of Charles Beck (Jason Isaacs). A professional gambler by trade, but run out of almost every casino along the western shores, Jack is a card counter. He can calculate his odds and come out better than even every single time. He assists Vicky to win a small fortune but refuses to listen to her offer of becoming his partner in the business.

That evening the wealthy socialite friends he's been mooching off of for several months take him out to a tacky seafood restaurant for enjoy the culture. Seamstress by day turns into diva by night. Celia is the entertainment, singing beautiful Portuguese melodies that stir his heart. Desperate to meet her, his attempts to invite her for a drink fall flat. The locals tell him that Celia is widowed, "but still the most married woman you'll ever meet." Loyal to her husband's memory, she's not about to give him a chance, despite all of his attempts. That is, until Vicky comes into the picture. In trade for a few card playing tips, she'll get his foot in the door with her mom. The plan works... but ashamed of his humble upbringings and less-than-respectable night job, Charles tells one lie after another in an attempt to win Ceila's heart, and when it starts to work, he's too afraid to tell the truth. What results is not always an honest love story but an interesting one nevertheless. The glimpse into the Portuguese culture is a charming one, complete with three generations of independent women living in the same household. 

A very strong message about telling the truth in relationships right from the beginning, because lies can only hurt the people involved, is the focus of the story. They make Charles heartsick and Celia furious when she learns the truth. Celia and her daughter seem to have a very strong, happy relationship. They have their rough spots (namely when Vicky has accidentally stayed out all night) but always come around. Her mother approves much more of honest, hard-working boys than these internet dates her daughter keeps setting up. Lois also commends her daughter's willingness to live in her husband's memory, but tells her not to make the mistake of allowing new love to pass her by. If the movie has a true flaw, it's that it moves rather slowly at times. I'm not a big fan of romantic salsa music and the scenes with Celia singing felt a little too drawn out for my tastes, but they were superb in setting up Charles' interest in her. It was nice to see "villainous" Jason Isaacs in a romantic role for once; he romances extremely well. Sofia Milos was marvelous; insecure and quiet, but also deeply passionate whenever music flows through the room. Emmy Rossum is, as always, very talented and this is one of her stronger roles.

Very little content intrudes on this love story. My biggest disappointment was that Charles and Celia do sleep together, rather unlikely given that she has such a stance on abstinence where her daughter is concerned. The implication is handled very tactfully with some heated kissing in the kitchen, then slowly panning into the usual "afterglow" bedroom scene. When Celia becomes angry that her daughter has stayed out all night, Vicky reassures her that she's still a virgin. Language is minimal. Less than a half dozen profanities (some of them s**t). The only violence is when a woman becomes enraged and slaps at a man multiple times, ordering him from her house. Moral issues do come into play. Charles makes his (impoverished) living cheating at cards. But when Vicky asks him to teach her, he refuses to show her anything she can't learn off the internet. He says that his life is horrible because of this habit and he has no intention of doing that to her and her mother. She does learn the tactic and employs it, but only once. Eventually (SPOILER) Charlie takes a job catching cheaters with the casino. (END OF SPOILER)

It's a little long at times, but for the romantics at heart will bring a warm fuzzy feeling... and an uncanny desire for seafood.

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