MERO ACASO (BY CHANCE) IS A NICE COMEDY
("Mero Acaso" is the Brazilian name of TVTOY/MMFDL)
Guia da Folha, 03-09/December/1999
There are bad and good movies. And there
are some that are nice. They don't turn to be
classics or something you cannot miss, but
they are so pleasant that they make the audience
happy for the rest of the day. The romantic
comedy "MERO ACASO" is a movie like that.
The definition is simple: one is not good, two is
wonderful, three is too much, but FOUR means
confusion, for sure. The charming Monica Potter
is Martha, an American who gave up her life in the
States with only US$ 35 on her pocket and flies
to London in search of adventure.
There she meets (one by one) three local guys
and, with her own merits, conquers their hearts.
What she does not know is that the three guys
are, 'by chance", friends since childhood.
This could be a silly story but the director
Nick Hamm knows how to develop the story with
intelligence, starting with the description that
Laurence (Joseph Fiennes) gives to his
psychiatrist neighbour about all that happened
to them since Martha came into their lives.
The narrative is not linear. The action goes and
comes back during a three day interval, and
many scenes are shown many times with
different angles, but that explains the story to
the audience.
With good jokes and a very sympathetic cast,
"Mero Acaso" captives the audience who only
need to chose one guy and root for him!
*** 3 stars (good)
"MERO ACASO" : BRITISH COMEDY
ENTERTAINS WITH LOVE LOZENGE
Folha de São Paulo - 03/Dec/1999
Romantic comedies with unlikely characters,
meetings and twists and with an obvious ending
are very common. But "Mero Acaso", even
having these qualities, deserves to be seen
for at least three reasons:
1) Monica Potter, the girl of the movie, has
the same grace of a blonde and young Julia Roberts;
Let's go to the narrative: "Mero Acaso", which originally is
"Martha, Meet Frank , Daniel and Laurence" tells
the story of these four characters that make a love
"lozange".
Martha is an American from the inland who, tired of her
routine of borrowing and nasty jobs, decides to change
her life. So she buys a one-way ticket to London with
only $30 cash in her pockets.
At the airport, she meets Daniel, a music industry
executive who has lots of money and many women.
Daniel falls in love with her at first sight but she is lost from
him at her arrival at London.
At the british airport, she meets Laurence (Joseph Fiennes,
from SiL), a quiet fellow who teaches bridge to old ladies.
This time she falls in love with him and he with her. But they
are apart too.
In the end, Martha meets Frank, an unknown actor , in
a park. Again, he falls in love with her and she runs away
from him.
What ties up these stories is that the guys have been
friends since childhood, and there is a great competition
between the well succeed Daniel and the failure Frank,
mostly about women.
Small confusions, twists, she finds out they are friends,
the guys realize they are in love with the same woman,
all this can capture the audience's attention till the end of
the movie that has no pretense to do nothing more than
entertain.
There are small reviews about our society, the way we are
living by "appearances". Daniel bought tons of used books
to decorate his house only to give the illusion that he had read
all of them.
Frank, on the other hand, has a teory that people attend
art galleries and expositions only to find sexual partners.
Talking about "appearances", this is not a movie which
has lines you can quote on "fashionable restaurants".
Also, there are no revolutionary "takes" that will make some
borrowing people start talking at the end of the movie.
"Mero Acaso" is entertainment - only this - relax.
*** 3 stars (good)
Translated by Antonieta
by Vaguinaldo Marinheiro
Translated by Antonieta
2) London was never shown that beautifully on screen;
3) It's possible to give many laughs with jokes about
psychiatry, restaurants that are expensive because they are
fashionable and about 'pretense' art admirers.
