Refrigerantes e Canções de Amor (2016) User Reviews (4)

Good premise, poor execution

[Starny · 4/10 · 10 September 2016]

A story of a boy meets girl, despite the fact that the girl is dressed as a pink dinosaur. So far, so good. This premise, as peculiar as it may seem, convinced me going to the cinema and watch this film. Besides, I have some sympathy for the screenwriter, who is a famous "comedian" (probably not his best attribute, hence the quotation marks) in Portugal.

In my honest opinion, the film starts out in the worst way possible. I wasn't even sure if it was supposed to be funny or not at first, since the first song featured seemed more like a parody than an actual serious scene of a film. From that scene on, it was practically impossible to enjoy the performance of at least two actors, João Tempera and Lúcia Moniz. I'm still not certain if either their acting was too dreadful to watch or if it was a big chunk of the screenplay which messed the film up. Either way, I thought an "amateur" would have acted better than any of these two, considering the circumstances.

The film has other scenes which are supposed to be serious, but cannot be taken seriously. These include bad guys in a scenery that makes no sense at all (then again, I have to blame it on the screen writing). Fortunately, we can count on some good old phrases here and there that make you believe there was some sense left when the script was written. The edition of the film seemed faulty at times as well. It is safe to assume that the film was a roller-coaster, only downhill from the beginning and having a very slight climb at the end.

On the other hand, I must praise the performance of Ivo Canelas, who plays the leading role. Considering the ridicule of some scenes he had to perform, I'm certain that he did his job well and it shows in the film. Honorable mention for Gregório Duvivier, who must be the coolest and most funny character in the film. Unfortunately, he was only on about 5 / 10 minutes of it, which reinforces my point of view on the choice of actors.

In conclusion, I would say it is not worth the money I spent (and mind you that I only paid 1 ticket for 2 persons).

Quite different romantic comedy

[nunorrodrigues · 8/10 · 30 August 2016]

The style " comedy / romantic " is not one of my favorites but I thought this film is quite interesting. I consider as positive aspects of the representation of both the main actor ( Ivo Canelas ) as of some of the secondary characters (Jorge Palma and Sérgio Godinho ) as the soundtrack containing quite unique and catchy tracks. With the negative aspect of the film consider it too predictable argument , I think you could have better exploited the characters and their interconnections with most comical situations . Overall I think it is a good movie and worth the price of the movie ticket , in addition to supporting the Portuguese cinema.

One of the best movies I saw in world scale

[mariadias-70728 · 10/10 · 20 November 2016]

Maybe the jokes and the songs are just enjoyable for Portuguese people or someone who understand Portuguese, for them I really advice this movie, for the others you can just give it a try and helpfully you could laugh about it. Otherwise one thing is true, the images is universal, so anyone could appreciate the movie plans, the filming technique is one of the best I seen in my life, you have really original and beautiful movie plans, with a great aesthetic that is hard to find nowadays in this massive American movie culture. I don't think is a predictable film as the other reviewer said, just one scene was predictable for me and even that was fun after all. I think is a screenplay very different, fresh and new. The cast are really great, they have a great performance, maybe Lucia Moniz was the worst of them but even she is average. The worse of the movie is the very end, but is just like 2 minutes when the credits appear, is a bit classic romantic in contrary of the rest that is original. I could laugh about this movie, enjoy the technical aspects, fall in love with the soundtrack, so what you want more?! Go ahead and make your one opinion!

Just saw today. It's different and brilliant. Not for everyone.

[tiagopereiranene · 10/10 · 5 March 2022]

Brilliant premise and execution. Portuguese movie in its finest. Ivo Canelas and the dinossaur in an platonic relationship. Go see it. This is not a movie for everyone despite the light premise.