Alef
This movie attempts to be an adventure/comedy/romance. The story starts showing André (Lázaro Ramos), a poor and so far honest guy working at the Xerox. Every conversation he has sound like a failed attempt of acting as an introvert - which might not be so noticeable for someone who is not Brazilian or isn't used with the language and the way it is spoken here. Although Lázaro is one of the most acclaimed Brazilian actors, his performance as André was very poor compared to his other parts.The movie proceeds to attempt to show a romance between André and Silvia, a girl he spies at and works nearby. Their conversations and moments together sound completely empty and acted.When André decides to make money at any cost and drops his honest self the movie goes on action mode, with a rushed plot after more than half of it was just André introspecting. After much bad acting, the movie has a nice yet a bit far from reality ending.
wanbaclone
The Man Who Copied is a curiosity. It doesn't stick with a genre, and it's unclear to me if this is a fault or an asset. Jorge Furtado, the director, plays fast and loose with the story. He throws bits of this and that into the mix all of which adds up to an uncatogorizable film. Is it a thriller? A comedy? A romantic comedy? It's hard for me to even match this up with any other movie I've seen. I see this film as more of a sketch than an oiled machine, and yet, there's considerable depth to the story. (The story stuck with me for a while, and I spent some time discussing it with the friend I saw it with.) It's the depth, the incongruities that kept me thinking about it, that makes me like it. The Man Who Copied is anything but. It's an original.
zecazeh
I'm sure that i have never seen some short-movie of Furtado, but after this one, I'm really sure that I have to see his all productions. The movie is sensitive and makes you enter in character mind, something like "what do I do if I were him at this time".Andre is the typical honest guy that goes to the wrong way, but do not lose his characteristic of to be a good boy - the direction and acting are perfect at this point -, making you think that, although all the crimes involved, the characters made the best choice for your own lives.Good acting! Excellent direction! Great movie! Highly recommended!
Claudio Carvalho
André (Lázaro Ramos) is a nineteen years old man who works as a photocopier operator in a small suburban store. He is very simple, earning R$ 240,00 (US$ 80,00) per month, the price of a fancy pair of tennis shoes, and he has just the basic education. He shares some expenses with his mother: he pays part of the rent of the small apartment where he lives with his mother (R$ 100,00); part of the installment of a 14' TV (R$ 32,00); and another R$ 40,00 of other monthly expenses. After expenses, he can afford of R$ 68,00 per month for him. Although being intelligent, he has some sort of incomplete knowledge, due to the partial reading of the books and magazines while he makes copy. He has a pair of binocular, which he bought after one year of savings and he is a voyeur. His hobby is seeing his neighbors in the night, specially Silvia (Leandra Leal), for whom he has a crush. André works with the sexy Marinês (Luana Piovani), a silly beautiful young woman, who usually says that she is virgin and will only have sex with a non-smoking rich guy. One day, André is invited to an opening party in a bar, he calls Marinés, and she brings her friend Cardoso (Pedro Cardoso), initiating a friendship among them. André decides to follow Silvia, and realizes she works as vendor in a store, selling costumes for women. He decides to buy a R$ 38,00 robe-de-chambre for his mother just to get close to Silvia, but he can not afford that amount. Therefore, he makes a photocopy of a R$ 50,00 bill and gambles R$ 9,00 in the lottery, getting a change of R$ 41,00. With this money, he approaches Silvia and they become friends. This is just the beginning of one of the best Brazilian movie ever. While following with humor the saga of André to get the love of Silvia, we find comedy, drama, action and romance in this outstanding film. The direction, the performance of the cast and the screenplay full of plot points are perfect. The DVD was released on 30 March 2004, and I had pre-bought it a couple of months ago. It was really worthwhile waiting for so many days! Brazilian cinema is one of the best of the world, not in quantity, but in quality. We have excellent directors, actors and actresses. But the screenplay of this movie is amazingly good. Even a foreigner, who is aware that our minimum wage is R$ 240,00 (US$ 80,00) per month, can understand the needs of André. This is one of our greatest social problem, the unfair wealth distribution: most of our population (maybe about 70%) receives less than US$ 80,00 per month, in a country where a pair of tennis of a better trademark (like a Nike) costs US$ 80,00. The situation of André reflects the lack of perspective of most of our teenagers, who can not afford to supply their basic needs. And André has a job, lives in a simple flat with his mother in a simple suburban zone outside the slums, and has some education. The unemployment rate in Brazil is higher and higher, the salaries are lower and lower and a great part of the urban population lives in slums. It is impossible not to like this movie, recommended for all audiences. My vote is ten.Title (Brazil): `O Homem Que Copiava' (`The Man Who Copied')