Every movie's title needs to make sense, and this one, "Miami Rhapsody", makes perfect sense. It is set in Miami, and the definition of rhapsody is, "a highly emotional utterance : a highly emotional literary work : effusively rapturous or extravagant discourse."
The short synopsis is this - mid-20s girl is engaged to be married, has a great relationship with her live-in boyfriend, but suddenly she, in succession, finds out that all those close to her, even mom and dad, are having marital problems, and she begins to have serious doubts if marriage is the right thing. In the end, she says, "Marriage is a lot like Miami. It is hot and stormy, and dangerous, but if it is so bad then why is there still so much traffic?"
The writing and diolog delivery are very clever, and the editing is just so good, I found myself constantly marveling at how good that part of the film is. I like Woody Allen in small doses, but this one I seemingly never tire of.
CAUTION -- SPOILERS FOLLOW --
Sarah Jessica Parker is great in the lead. Now I understand the "Woody Allen" references. In fact, imagine a female delivering Woody Allen-esque lines and you have Sarah's role in this film. Antonio Banderas as the "Latin lover" who seduces her mother (Mia Farrow), and comes very close to bedding her too, is also excellent. The one big problem I have with this film is its apparent cavalier treatment of infidelity. When mom first tells daughter she suspects dad is having an affair, and daughter later discusses it with dad, the subject could well have been "dad has hair on his back". That's how calm and accepting they all were of infidelity, and the same later when it is revealed that mom is also bedding grandma's male nurse, Banderas. Similar to the various other couples who are cheating on their spouses.
The film starts and ends with Parker in her therapist's office, all the time talking into the camera. The film is done as a series of flashbacks with commentary, after she tells the therapist that once she was engaged. She ends up losing the man, but her parents, and also all the other couple infidels, all realize that they had simply given in to temptation and in the end loved and appreciated their mates and all was heading in the right direction. And Parker's character learned that in spite of all its pitfalls, relationships and marriage are still worth pursuing.
So, all-in-all it is a personal growth movie, involving primarily Parker's character, and the "rhapsody" told in the film is solely to show how she achieved that. I rate it a very solid "7" of 10.
The short synopsis is this - mid-20s girl is engaged to be married, has a great relationship with her live-in boyfriend, but suddenly she, in succession, finds out that all those close to her, even mom and dad, are having marital problems, and she begins to have serious doubts if marriage is the right thing. In the end, she says, "Marriage is a lot like Miami. It is hot and stormy, and dangerous, but if it is so bad then why is there still so much traffic?"
The writing and diolog delivery are very clever, and the editing is just so good, I found myself constantly marveling at how good that part of the film is. I like Woody Allen in small doses, but this one I seemingly never tire of.
CAUTION -- SPOILERS FOLLOW --
Sarah Jessica Parker is great in the lead. Now I understand the "Woody Allen" references. In fact, imagine a female delivering Woody Allen-esque lines and you have Sarah's role in this film. Antonio Banderas as the "Latin lover" who seduces her mother (Mia Farrow), and comes very close to bedding her too, is also excellent. The one big problem I have with this film is its apparent cavalier treatment of infidelity. When mom first tells daughter she suspects dad is having an affair, and daughter later discusses it with dad, the subject could well have been "dad has hair on his back". That's how calm and accepting they all were of infidelity, and the same later when it is revealed that mom is also bedding grandma's male nurse, Banderas. Similar to the various other couples who are cheating on their spouses.
The film starts and ends with Parker in her therapist's office, all the time talking into the camera. The film is done as a series of flashbacks with commentary, after she tells the therapist that once she was engaged. She ends up losing the man, but her parents, and also all the other couple infidels, all realize that they had simply given in to temptation and in the end loved and appreciated their mates and all was heading in the right direction. And Parker's character learned that in spite of all its pitfalls, relationships and marriage are still worth pursuing.
So, all-in-all it is a personal growth movie, involving primarily Parker's character, and the "rhapsody" told in the film is solely to show how she achieved that. I rate it a very solid "7" of 10.