Blame It on Rio (1984)

I fell in love with Rio, the first time I saw this movie, but I fell in love with this movie too. People have said the film is about incest. It isn't. Sometimes best friends are called Uncles, as is the case here. Here, drawing an sexual attraction enigma, like Alvin Purple, young nineteen year old beauty, Jennifer (Johnson, no acting chops wasted although she did get better) falls for forty three year old Matthew (Caine, of course, great as usual and funny) while vacationing in Rio with her father (Bologna) and Caine's perceptive and level headed daughter (Moore). Things get hot, and the nights hotter, where Caine soon is forced to draw the line, before his mate finds out. The script written by Mash writer, Gelbart, has stylish, and thought provoking and memorable dialogue, throughout, I could spout off, after seeing it. It's great, and the situations that unfold in the story are fun, if realistic, as if in the real scenario. BIOR has some cheeky scenes, the beach strewn with boobs of Brazilian babes, one uncomfortable scene, has the daughters, bouncing boobs flapping about in their nakedness, where they approach their fathers, who of course, are uncomfortable. Who wouldn't be? I first saw this movie when I was 14, and have always found it deliciously entertaining, as in the funny moments, as well as a few scenes which has Caine, speaking to camera, with great comic timing in his delivery of dialogue, not just here. The music is good in this too, with a mum angry maid who works at the lodge, where Caine and co are staying. An old codger neighbor is quite a hoot too. I guess one flaw with it, is the screen time of Moore, if kind of neglected as to the three leads. She comes and goes. But hey, we have the appetizing Johnson, one saucy full on nude shot to camera, memorable. Really her and Caine make the film, where Valerie Harper, co starring as Caine's wife, out acts them all in a very good performance for one scarce small number of scenes she's in. The scene with her confronting Johnson, leaves you kind of sore with disillusion, as to her behavior, a lesson to be learn' t here. Harper's character, Karen, even tells her she's envious of her. Original Fun movie and non incestuous tale (get it right) throughout.

Blame It on Rio (1984) * 1/2 (out of 4) Matthew Hollis (Michael Caine) and his best friend Victor (Joseph Bologna) take their 17-year-old daughters on vacation to Rio where all sorts of trouble happens. Matthew, going thru a dried up marriage, falls to the seduction of his friend's daughter (Michelle Johnson) and soon the affair is going to have all sorts of people in trouble. Had this movie been made in the 1970's then it would have been a serious look at a troubled situation. Since it was made in the 80's it has been turned into a rather idiotic sex comedy and one that is pretty awful with the exception of a few things that keep it moving. The non-stop nudity is pretty shocking even by the 80's standards but the only thing more shocking is the fact that Stanley Donen directed this thing. Yes folks, the man behind SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, CHARADE, ON THE TOWN and FUNNY FACE also made this thing and it's clear this type of comedy just wasn't his thing. The entire picture is just so uneven that it's hard to really follow any of it and the attempts at humor just aren't funny and instead come across as rather creepy. I'm going to overlook the subject matter of a man sleeping with his friend's teenage daughter but there's a scene on the beach where the girls are topless and they come up to their fathers in a way, which was just kinda sick to watch. The film has gained a rather notorious reputation over the years due to all of the nudity and especially that by Johnson. I'm not going to lie, she looks amazing and her nude scenes certainly help keep the picture going but at the same time her performance is pretty bad, but this here is to be somewhat expected. She was just 17-years-old when this movie was made so think about that. Caine turns in a pretty bad performance as the father and it appears that he's rather uncomfortable throughout the entire film. Yes, the character is supposed to be uncomfortable with the situation but I really do wonder if Caine was nervous or didn't like the idea that he was actually messing around with an actress who wasn't yet at a legal age. Bologna is good in his supporting role as is Valerie Harper and there's also a young Demi Moore. BLAME IT ON RIO is a really stupid movie that adds up to a big fat zero in regards to its story. It's not funny. It's creepy at times and it just doesn't work.

Why would anyone review a 26-year-old film I saw long ago? At the time the film came out I was nearly Michael Caine's age and shared many of his mid-life frustrations about marriage and certainly enjoyed the fantasy about having an affair with a young woman my junior in exotic Rio. Over the past two decades things have changed. First, this movie would not have been made today, given Hollywood's Puritanical shift to the dark ages on a flat earth. Second, Blame It On Rio features what many current comedies do not offer: deep belly laughs well into the third act. Thirdly, movies are judged by ticket receipts today and not by laughs or remembered lines. Blame It On Rio exudes all that the movie was intended to convey. Sadly for Michelle Johnson, who received a Razzi Award for worst actress that year, she was unfairly judged by the Puritans and feminists. She played the part of a young seductress who tingled with run-away hormones, gorgeous loins and breasts; she was an entirely authentic mermaid capable of seducing any male of age and taking him into the surf. I was in Rio recently, and yes, spells endure in this marvellous city because of a special magic that Blame It On Rio managed to catch.

Michael Caine simply never gets asked about his involvement in this film and that is a shame. In his career he has had limited success in comedies but this is the exception. Caine and Bologna make a terrific double act and I laughed myself stupid from start to finish.Admittedly the concept is rather weak but it is carried off brilliantly. Bologna steals the film for me with his protective father routine and is a joy to watch. The inclusion of just a few other cast members is very clever with each one delivering killer lines as the plot unfolds. The best scene in the film is when Caine employs a woman to use her skills in the occult to make his desires go away. One of the very best comedies I have seen . One tip if you like the film buy it on DVD as it is very rarely shown on television.