It's good, but it's not perfect. The comedy is there and, as in the series, it has excellent moments of humor. However, in some parts, it fails by forcefully trying to fit as many characters from the series as possible into the film, with certain situations (mainly towards the end) spoiling the development of some characters and stories in the series.
I also felt that, sometimes, this film missed a great opportunity to take the satire of soap opera clichés, which it did perfectly in the first season of the series, and create something similar but satirizing the clichés of cinema. Something more in the vein of the famous Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker films (which clearly inspired the first season). There were one or two moments in this style, but maybe they weren't enough. The movie also gave the feeling that certain parts of the film were more a collection of funny moments than a narrative with a beginning, middle, and end. Slight spoilers: the final twist could've been developed better and revealed in a better way, which would help to strengthen this apparent lack of narrative.
However, credit must be given to the quality of the cast, which is still as good or maybe even better than we're used to. There was also an acceptable transition from the small to the big screen, taking advantage of cinematographic language in various situations, mainly from a technical point of view. It didn't present anything extraordinary or innovative in the visual field, but it was undoubtedly much better than what is common in Portugal for films of this style. I hope that other Portuguese directors and cinematographers look at this film and realize that it is possible to make a comedy movie without filming everything as if it were a 2008 soap opera.
Review by João MarquesBlockedParent2023-08-23T18:05:29Z
It's good, but it's not perfect. The comedy is there and, as in the series, it has excellent moments of humor. However, in some parts, it fails by forcefully trying to fit as many characters from the series as possible into the film, with certain situations (mainly towards the end) spoiling the development of some characters and stories in the series.
I also felt that, sometimes, this film missed a great opportunity to take the satire of soap opera clichés, which it did perfectly in the first season of the series, and create something similar but satirizing the clichés of cinema. Something more in the vein of the famous Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker films (which clearly inspired the first season). There were one or two moments in this style, but maybe they weren't enough. The movie also gave the feeling that certain parts of the film were more a collection of funny moments than a narrative with a beginning, middle, and end.
Slight spoilers: the final twist could've been developed better and revealed in a better way, which would help to strengthen this apparent lack of narrative.
However, credit must be given to the quality of the cast, which is still as good or maybe even better than we're used to. There was also an acceptable transition from the small to the big screen, taking advantage of cinematographic language in various situations, mainly from a technical point of view. It didn't present anything extraordinary or innovative in the visual field, but it was undoubtedly much better than what is common in Portugal for films of this style. I hope that other Portuguese directors and cinematographers look at this film and realize that it is possible to make a comedy movie without filming everything as if it were a 2008 soap opera.