Review of Blame It On Rio

Introduction

Blame It On Rio is a comedy from 1984, and a remake of the 1977 film Un Moment d`Egarement (which translates as A Moment of Madness or One Wild Moment). The film stars the ever-loveable Maurice Joseph Micklewhite (better known to most of us as Sir Michael Caine), Michelle Johnson "the hottest new actress of 1984" (have you ever seen her in anything since?) and also a young Demi Moore (ok, you`ve probably seen her in something since, but maybe you wished you hadn`t.)

The "plot" (and I use that term very, very loosely) is outlined above, and that`s about all there is to it. Let`s get on with a look at the DVD.

Video

A 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer awaits us, and it`s a pretty average one for a 20 year old film. There are good bits, and there are bad bits. Sometimes it`s clean and crisp, other times it`s a bit washed out, grainy and showing plenty of signs of print damage. And some of the time this is a shame, as there`s actually some great cinematography on offer here (not what you might expect from a 1980s comedy). Rio looks great on film, even a film as rubbish as this one. There are some great aerial shots, and a great scene featuring a hang-glider which just makes you think "cor, I`d love to do that".

Plenty of wildlife dotted around too, including Parrots, Monkeys, an egg laying white Peahen and a fabulous Toucan.

Audio

A DD2.0 stereo soundtrack, which is the original mono replayed over both channels. If you pass it through your home cinema amp/processor, you`ll find that you can get a few surround sounds out of it (wildlife noise mostly), but apart from that it`s largely a very flat and dull soundtrack. There are also various dubbed versions available, and these are all either very similar or slightly more subdued than the English langauage track.

And then we get to the music. It`s hideous, a compilation of 1980s cheese, slap bass, cliche and stereotype that`s often supposed to sound Brazillian, but just sounds like someone`s idea of what they think Brazillian music sounds like.

And the less said about the awful (but still unfortunately perfectly audible) dialogue the better!

Features

Just a very naff trailer which gives us the line "Michelle Johnson, the hottest new actress of 1984". Strangely it doesn`t mention the Razzie that she won for the film...

Conclusion

What an awful film. One of the worst films that I have ever seen. It`s appalling. Even Michael Caine (who is normally a joy to watch) can`t save it. He must look back on this film and wonder why. Why the awful perm? Why the huge glasses? Why did I agree to this film? I`m reminded of the Simpsons episode "A Star Is Burns" at this point:-

Jay Sherman: How do you sleep at night?
Rainier Wolfcastle: On top of a pile of money with many beautiful ladies.

That might just be Michael Caine`s answer after making this film. He can`t have done it for any reason other than the money. Which is fair enough of course, it`s just a shame that the only purpose the film serves is to make one of our great actors a little richer.

It may seem that I`m singling out Caine, but in fact everyone involved here should hang their heads. Michelle Johnson`s "acting" was rubbish, and well deserving of a Razzie. Her delivery is rotten and she seems so wooden. Defenders of the film might point out that she looks attractive (and she exposes to all she`s got), but if you want to watch a film just for that why not try the porno remake of the film called Blame it on Ginger instead?

Next up on the chopping block, Demi Moore in an early role. She doesn`t really get a lot to do (and keeps her dignity most of the time) but it`s still painful to watch. The other big sinner here is director Stanley Donen. Is this really the last film work of the man who directed Singin` in the Rain, Charade and Bedazzled (the Pete`n`Dud original not the lamentable Liz Hurley remake)? I`m afraid that it is unless he has something new lined up in his 80th birthday year.

The only good thing that I can say about this film is that I liked the wildlife, particularly the Toucan.

The DVD is distinctly average, with average picture and sound. The film is distinctly awful, and I implore you to avoid it at all costs.

And I apologise for using the word "awful" so much during this review, but it really sums up my feelings!