Limerculer A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Adeel Hail Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Lela The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

FilmCriticLalitRao All film fans must question the usage of names of famous cities as titles of films which have been controversial due to their explicit sexual content.Film fans can cite examples of films like "Last tango in Paris" and "Blame it on Rio".One can wonder what have reputed cities got to do with films wherein characters have indulged in highly irresponsible behavior.Veteran American director Stanley Donen's film "Blame it on Rio" is one of those rare films which legitimizes irresponsible behavior.It is a mystery that it has been classified as a romantic comedy.This must come as a shock to those fans who consider it as a drama film exploring somewhat taboo themes involving bizarre characters who make it a point to outshine each other over matters related to unfaithfulness and sexual misconduct.Apart from Brazilian city Rio De Janeiro,British actor Michael Caine in two different yet fascinating avatars is this film's major attraction.He is good as a narrator but somewhat dorky as an actor.This is fine for critics but would not deter interested daddies to enjoy this film with their nubile daughters.May be they would learn a thing or two from "Blame it on Rio".

Michael_Elliott Blame It on Rio (1984) * 1/2 (out of 4) Matthew Hollis (Michael Caine) and his best friend Victor (Joseph Bologna) take their 17-year-old daughters on vacation to Rio where all sorts of trouble happens. Matthew, going thru a dried up marriage, falls to the seduction of his friend's daughter (Michelle Johnson) and soon the affair is going to have all sorts of people in trouble. Had this movie been made in the 1970's then it would have been a serious look at a troubled situation. Since it was made in the 80's it has been turned into a rather idiotic sex comedy and one that is pretty awful with the exception of a few things that keep it moving. The non-stop nudity is pretty shocking even by the 80's standards but the only thing more shocking is the fact that Stanley Donen directed this thing. Yes folks, the man behind SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, CHARADE, ON THE TOWN and FUNNY FACE also made this thing and it's clear this type of comedy just wasn't his thing. The entire picture is just so uneven that it's hard to really follow any of it and the attempts at humor just aren't funny and instead come across as rather creepy. I'm going to overlook the subject matter of a man sleeping with his friend's teenage daughter but there's a scene on the beach where the girls are topless and they come up to their fathers in a way, which was just kinda sick to watch. The film has gained a rather notorious reputation over the years due to all of the nudity and especially that by Johnson. I'm not going to lie, she looks amazing and her nude scenes certainly help keep the picture going but at the same time her performance is pretty bad, but this here is to be somewhat expected. She was just 17-years-old when this movie was made so think about that. Caine turns in a pretty bad performance as the father and it appears that he's rather uncomfortable throughout the entire film. Yes, the character is supposed to be uncomfortable with the situation but I really do wonder if Caine was nervous or didn't like the idea that he was actually messing around with an actress who wasn't yet at a legal age. Bologna is good in his supporting role as is Valerie Harper and there's also a young Demi Moore. BLAME IT ON RIO is a really stupid movie that adds up to a big fat zero in regards to its story. It's not funny. It's creepy at times and it just doesn't work.

shandrick Why would anyone review a 26-year-old film I saw long ago? At the time the film came out I was nearly Michael Caine's age and shared many of his mid-life frustrations about marriage and certainly enjoyed the fantasy about having an affair with a young woman my junior in exotic Rio. Over the past two decades things have changed. First, this movie would not have been made today, given Hollywood's Puritanical shift to the dark ages on a flat earth. Second, Blame It On Rio features what many current comedies do not offer: deep belly laughs well into the third act. Thirdly, movies are judged by ticket receipts today and not by laughs or remembered lines. Blame It On Rio exudes all that the movie was intended to convey. Sadly for Michelle Johnson, who received a Razzi Award for worst actress that year, she was unfairly judged by the Puritans and feminists. She played the part of a young seductress who tingled with run-away hormones, gorgeous loins and breasts; she was an entirely authentic mermaid capable of seducing any male of age and taking him into the surf. I was in Rio recently, and yes, spells endure in this marvellous city because of a special magic that Blame It On Rio managed to catch.

hall895 You read a plot synopsis for Blame It on Rio and immediately you think that this just has to be a terrible movie. And besides being terrible it's also going to be downright uncomfortable to watch as the story centers around some wildly inappropriate behavior. They'd never make a movie like this today you think and thank goodness for that. Yes, those would probably be your thoughts before you watch this movie. But then you watch it and it's actually not that bad. Yes there is that uneasy feeling throughout due to the fact that the subject matter is more than a little icky. But the movie is entertaining. It's light-hearted fun. In fact you could even call it charming if not for the fact that there's nothing particularly charming about a middle-aged man having sex with his best friend's teenage daughter.So our story is about this exceedingly inappropriate relationship. And the movie plays it for laughs. And it works? Ah, the 1980s. A very different world from today that's for sure. Blame It on Rio is never uproariously funny but there are enough good comic moments sprinkled throughout to keep things moving along nicely. In playing Matthew, the man who can't resist the charms of the teenage temptress, it is Michael Caine who really holds the movie together. An awkward character to play no doubt and Caine makes it work. From the moment we meet him, even before his wild fling, Matthew never seems entirely comfortable in his own skin. Preying on that awkwardness is his own personal Lolita. She goes by the name of Jennifer and is played by Michelle Johnson for whom comfort in her own skin was apparently not an issue. Yowzers! Easy to see how it would be difficult for any man to resist her feminine charms. But Matthew, you're forty-something, she's a teenager, and she's your best friend's daughter! This can't happen! But it does and...hilarity ensues? Yeah you wouldn't think this is a particularly comedic situation but that's the direction in which this movie goes and somehow it kind of works.It's hard to fully embrace the movie as none of the main characters come off particularly well. The Matthew-Jennifer relationship is not the only inappropriate thing going on here, not by a long shot. You'd think Jennifer's father, what with his best friend sleeping with his nubile daughter, would be the sympathetic character. But, as portrayed by Joseph Bologna, he's a sleaze too. Who in this movie isn't? Well, there's Matthew's daughter Nicole. Demi Moore plays the role and it's a smaller part compared to Caine, Johnson and Bologna. But if you sympathize with anyone it's her. She has an innocence about her. All the adults in this movie have lost their innocence long ago. And her friend Jennifer can't wait to lose hers...with Nicole's father no less. Poor Nicole. She even has to suffer in comparison standing next to the voluptuous Jennifer on one of Rio's famous topless beaches. At this point in her life Demi Moore had not yet embraced the wonders of surgical enhancement and that leaves Nicole bashful, trying to cover up her modest assets with her long hair. Jennifer? She's not bashful. But somehow she's still sweet and charming. And there's still a vulnerability and touch of innocence to her even as she's taking off her clothes and seducing a middle-aged man. It's hard to figure. The story shouldn't work, the movie shouldn't work, we really shouldn't be finding any of this funny. But somehow the end result isn't that bad at all. Go into this movie with low expectations and you may well be pleasantly surprised.