Feeling in a romantic funk or mood? Not to worry there is the usual pile of Hollywood made post 1980s-1990s Rom-Com era and this year’s picks were not much to look at.  But don’t despair we found you an original, fun to sit through and mildly familiar but also strangely not so familiar comedy from the Deep South and by that I mean a comedy and its sequel …

Rich in Love and Rich in Love 2 (opened June 2, 2023, not from Mexico or Latin America but from far away Brazil and its mysterious, sometimes deadly, and definitely beautiful Amazon forests – gracing the production and giving the entire franchise a little extra buzz and energy sorely lacking from the Paso Robles setting in the 2018 Destination Wedding with Reeves and Ryder or the 2020 Palm Springs with Samberg and Milioti (both are not on my recommend list).

Starring two unknowns in the lead roles to North American audiences, Giovanna Lancellotti plays Paula, a med student from a working-class family and Danilo Mesquita as Theodore abbreviated as Teto (we suspect because it rhymes with Tomato or Potato and part of the multitudes of whimsy and charms you will find in this production).

Paula is your typical working-class hottie (relative to American middle class) but she suffers from the modern-day syndrome of any aspiring modern-day woman, she wants to climb the ladder to the top based on her prowess and skill in medicine and not because a senior physician is cutting her breaks because he aspires to play doctor with her when off the clock.

Enter Teto, he is the playboy airhead son of a Tomato tycoon and millionaire. Teto is a study in opposites and conflicting social maxims. He wants to have fun, and enjoy the pleasures that luxury offers and he too is extremely handsome and a babe magnet but he doesn’t want people to like him because he is good looking or because of his money. He wants to surround himself with genuine friends and real women.  Needless to say when Teto runs into Paula at a loud birthday party thrown into his honor, complete with a pop concert DJ and fireworks the likes you would see at big mega rock band concerts, he immediately falls for Paula’s looks.

Of course, they don’t hit it off at first but Teto is not only hooked, he wants to court Paula without revealing to her his super star status.

What ensues is a two-hour chase with Teto getting way over his head not wanting to reveal to her his true identity but masquerading as a lowly blue collar working stiff who somehow manages to always run into her and catch her attention and affections with his above average insights and sensitivityto the plight of the poor and down trodden in Brazilian society.  

All the while the writers of the movie script, director Bruno Garotti and screenwriter Sylvio Gonçalves are good at throwing Paula into the line of fire of well-to-do single men who are selfish, aloof, sexist and beyond understanding Paula’s mindset or inclinations.

To round up the story of how Teto and Paula fall in love, we have a small cast of extremely competent supporting actors, Jaffar Bambirra as his really close pal who is from a less wealthy social stratum, Igor is Teto’s sidekick, punching bag, collaborator and shadow.  The two are inseparable as they both seek fortune in the business world, in love and in personal lifestyle pursuits.

Add to the mix is a father-son love and struggle relationship, where Ernani Moraes play Teto’s dad and widowed parent, Teodoro Trancoso, a father keen on his son succeeding him as his heir to his agro-farming tomatoes empire.

Teto returns his father’s love but is conflicted by wanting to succeed on his own terms not because his father is just giving him the “keys” to the good life.

Rich in Love (2020) gives us more zany twists and turns, humor and laughs, shenanigans at Trancoso Corporation’s training center for interns, where program managers and junior executives run afoul of Teto and Igor’s impulsive plan to land Paula’s heart and an employment opportunity for the well to do and affluent in Brazilian society. In between a circus juggling act and romantic interludes in bed, Teto’s connection with Paula grows from an initial infatuation into a deeper romance.

Rich in Love 2 (2023), a direct sequel released this year starring the same main cast, picks up where the story left off in the original romantic comedy. In this story, Teto is working hard against his worst nemesis, Doctor Jealousy, in the person of a fast-hitting Dr. Tauan who puts the moves on Paula, but also against a second Tomato King on the Brazilian market who has big plans for Teto’s fledgling agro cooperative.

All of the main cast from the first movie are back in Rich in Love 2, with new faces Wunin (Kay Sara) from the indigenous Amazon tribe and Dr. Tauan (Adanilo Reis).

At heart, Rich in Love and RIL 2 present a familiar core story overlayed with many elements from French, Italian, and Spanish movies in a highly effective … (continues)

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