Stars:
**
Rating: R for violence,
language and sexuality
Run
Time: 1
hour, 50 minutes. In Portuguese with English subtitles
Expectations
run high when Brazilian master Fernando Meirelles is attached to a project of
any kind. Why wouldn’t they after such masterful triumphs as “City of God” and
“The Constant Gardener”?
Unfortunately
Meirelles disciple/collaborator Paulo Morelli mines old territory in yet
another ode to Rio’s vivid favelas, where crime is the mother’s milk of life.
Best
buddies Laranjinha and Acerola (Darlan Cunha and Douglas Silva aka “Wallace”
and “Ace”) are on the cusp of their eighteenth birthdays and dealing with
impending adulthood the favela way – both searching for their absentee fathers
and one playing daddy to a child-wife’s baby boy.
Dreams are
shattered or long since forgotten – of a vocation, serious schooling or a top
position in one of the local rival gangs who rule the streets with fear and
firearms.
Wallace
unexpectedly locates his dad (Rodrigo dos Santos) but it’s anything like the
salvation he expects it to be when his father drops some loaded wisdom that
cracks open a serious rift between childhood friends and threatens the lives of
others.
Morelli
appears to understand the down and dirty existence of the favela – vibrant with
violent, frenzied attitude that speaks to frustrated desire and desperation. The
favela shines bright in its drastic contrast to the neighboring beaches of
Ipanema and Copacabana, sitting jewel-like on its lofty hill (a geographic
anomaly) but striking fear into the hearts of Rio’s well-heeled natives.
More often
than not “Men” feels like “City of God” light – less ambitious, less intense
and more of the same. Well-crafted flashbacks establish that enduring bond of
friendship while the stereotypical swagger and gunplay feels forced, tiresome
and difficult to comprehend.
Morelli has
been well trained, utilizing Meirelles’ bold signature moves, but in the end it’s
for naught.