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List Price: $29.95 | | Label: Sony Pictures
Salesrank: 46401
Released: December 26, 2000 |
| Our Price: $41.49 |
| Used Price: $21.96 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Many movies have tried to weave a web of coincidences and quirky characters into a satisfying tale of love, but few of them succeed. Bossa Nova, directed with a deft touch and acted with simplicity and genuine charm, pulls it off. Mary Ann (Amy Irving) is an American teaching English in Rio de Janeiro; her husband died years before and she has given up on love. Lawyer Pedro (Antonio Fagundes) is in the middle of a sticky divorce and wants his wife back, but when he sees Mary Ann in the hallway outside her language school, he is instantly smitten and starts taking her class. Meanwhile, another student of Mary Ann's is having an affair over the Internet; Pedro's brother falls in love with Pedro's headstrong new intern; and there's the soccer star who's taking lessons from Mary Ann so that he can join a team in Manchester. Bossa Nova has a relaxed, smooth flow, not unlike the music it's named after. The ways the characters' lives start to interlock would be preposterous if it weren't so gracefully developed--every crossed path seems unforced and natural. The romance manages to be sweet and realistic, a mixture of swooning and melancholy. Irving and Fagundes are wonderful, particularly because they aren't callow youngsters but people who've experienced some hard knocks and yet continue on. All in all, a delight. --Bret Fetzer
Bossa Nova Reviews:
Blame It On The Bossa Nova 
2009-01-19 - Hey folks, if you're having a bad day or feeling a bit low this film is the PERFECT pick me up! Sweet, endearing and fun it is. The scenery is beautiful, the women so lovely, who could ask for anything more!!! I personally would have had a hard time choosing been the women. Mary Ann (Amy Irving) and Tania are both lovely women and would have tried like heck to keep them both. Tania has that sexy, intelligent look I love so much in Brazilian women. And Mary Ann is pretty, sweet and charming. Anyway, if you love Brazil (I do), Bossa Nova music and beautiful sunsets, check this movie out. A sweeter "grape" you will never pick!
Very enjoyable 
2007-12-12 - Except for some regrettable lapses into melodrama, this movie captures extremely well the spirit of Rio de Janeiro, and also provides a believable romance between the Brazilian Antônio Fagundes and the American Amy Irving. Recommended.
Easy to watch.
2007-01-09 - This movie is very easy to watch. It doesn' get to be hilarious but it is somewhat funny. The language barrier is what makes the movie funny in a way. Overall it's your tipical guy-gets-the-girl, girl-gets-the-guy in the end type of thing but it's worth watching because the breath taking views of Rio de Janeiro will remind you that the place is still amazing regardless of poverty or violence.
Bossa Nova
2007-01-03 - This is a delightful film set in a magnificently beautiful Rio. Add the beat of the Samba, love, and wonderful characters and you have an experience that just makes you feel good. It is the kind of movie you can watch over and over.
Immerse yourself!
2006-06-01 - I have read several reviews on this movie and frankly I think some of these people should get over themselves! This was a charming, funny and thoroughly watchable movie that takes you away from your everyday life and immerses you in the wonder that is love and Rio de Janeiro. Many people have issues with the fact that this movie shows a fairytale Rio without favelas and crime - how many movies do you see of Paris without dog poo and rudeness or London without drizzle or New York without crime - many! This is a romantic comedy and serves Rio and its actors beautifully. As someone who loves Rio in all its aspects, I was happy to see a positive side of Brazilian life rather than a gritty, depressing 'real life' scenario. Yes, favelas a real but there are millions of people in Rio who don't live in them! We see enough of the sad side of Brazilian life, every so often it is good to show the positives. Relax, take off your reality meter and wallow in the gorgeousness that is Rio, Antonio Fagundes and this sweet and funny story.
