Writer(s): Garotti and Sylvio Goncalves
Starring: Danilo Mesquita, Giovanna Lancelloti, Jaffar Bambirra and Lelle
Rich in Love is yet another Hallmark-style love story about the womanizing son of a rich tomato tycoon (?) named Teto, who rides on the coattails of this father’s success. He doesn’t seem to do anything except sleep around with random women, and drive fancy cars about the town. But who can really fault him, because he doesn’t have to do anything else. Like most all rich kids, his life is laid out before him, a fate that was already decided even before he was born: He is going to inherit “The Tomato King’s” entire empire.
Then he meets Paula, a driven medical student with big dreams and aspirations. Teto immediately falls for her, but is faced with a dilemma: How can he be sure that Paula loves him for him and not just for his wealth? So he does what anyone would do in this situation: He pretends to be poor. Oh, and at the same time he begs his father not to simply leave him his company because he is blood, but because he actually thinks he’s the best one for the job. He’s sick of living life like an entitled brat and wants to clean up his act.
At the same time he’s pretending to be poor, he’s also pretending to be someone else to actually earn his father’s assistant position. He trades places with Igor, his friend (and father’s lawn worker), and sees the results of his privilege firsthand as the executives of his father’s company flock to him - thinking he’s Teto - while ignoring the real Tito.
One ridiculous plot device follows another: Teto turns to his father’s former assistant, Monique, to give him tips on how to get the job; he tries to be in two places at once during an important meeting, with painfully obvious results; and his two lives eventually crash together, leading to the obligatory fight between the movie’s two lovebirds.
The line between “completely formulaic” and “original” doesn’t really exist in these movies: Add even a shred of believability and all the magic is gone. They’re supposed to be uplifting fairy tales where the good guys always fall in love, and absolutely nothing is grounded in reality. And sure enough, people looking for that type of tale - where the two main stars get together and (based on insinuation) have a happy lifetime together - won’t be disappointed. But Rich in Love does at least toggle with the formula somewhat, leading to some unexpected fates for some of its supporting characters that are at least slightly unexpected.
One such example: There isn’t a villain. At least, not in the traditional sense. Paula does have a sleazeball doctor who’s clearly interested in her (and in whom the feeling is clearly not reciprocated), but his character is relegated to the background more often than not, and aside from being an annoyance, never really factors into the story enough to even be considered a real threat.
I have only seen one other sappy foreign rom-com, and one unifying theme is that they seem to nail the casting. I’ve mentioned it many times before (and I will mention it again for new readers to this blog), but the attractiveness of a movie’s cast is one factor that decides whether or not we’ll even watch it. It sounds shallow - and it is - but there’s just too little actual substance to these characters to be anything more than a pretty face. So when they don’t even have that, there’s really not much of a point in watching. (Or, even worse, you’ll have a good-looking man or woman opposite a not-so-attractive one, which is frustrating in its own right.)
Rich in Love not only features two good-looking leads, but they also seem to have a lot of chemistry together. I say “seem” because we did see the dubbed version on Netflix, which loses some of their performances in translation (literally and figuratively), but you can still tell they work well together, and their relationship is cute and (mostly) believable, as far as this cheese goes.
This one isn’t holiday-themed, but who cares? It’s still the type of movie people love to watch around the holidays. And really, the only difference between these and “regular” rom-coms are a few well-placed Christmas trees and tinsel in the background. This one might be even more ridiculous than most, but it’s self-aware and never takes itself too seriously. That, as well as the solid cast (and decent dubbing), are enough to elevate this well above average fare in this tired subgenre.
ENTERTAINMENT RATING: 7.5/10
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