We are asked the question - how successful can a film be at sprucing up a storyline which feels between 20-40 years old, painted in a very corporate logo of progrssivism?
The answer would be - not as.successful as it wants to be, but better than one might expect.
The film's best asset is its very strong cast. Everyone manages to go between funny or moving depending on the moment, and everyone involved has real chemistry together. A particular asset to the film's portrayal of family dynamics are the clear-eyed work from Amelia Bittencourt as the warm, understanding grandmother and Elisa Pinheiro as the sister who tries to be supportive even as she languishes in the shadows. Jose Vitor Castiel is also very good as the bigoted father whose heart thaws in time for the happy conclusion. He makes the turn more believable than it should be. Marcos Brdda as the grasping, barely closeted, desperate brother-in-law and Alice Borges as the all-seeing maid are also great.
Nany People is key to the film's emotional weight, especially as she takes over much of the meandering back half. As one of the few lgbt people in the cast, she carries an even heavier burden with a great deal of wit, style, and grace.
The younger cast, in spite of being the film's main promotion point, are given more of a short shrift with the material. A big reason is probably because the film avoids showing any real intimacy between Mario or his lovers, which leads to strange choices like Felipe Abib's Fernando doing a striptease (I guess because it could be seen as comedic, even though Abib is still very sexy) down to tight red boxers, but, once he's cuddled in bed with Daniel Rocha, they are interrupted before they can even kiss.
Of Rocha, Abib, and Leticia Lima's Ana, the latter two have the most chances, due to some comedy elements (my favorite being Fernando's angry attempt at being a "bro" to Mario in front of his family). Yes, there is some stereotypical mincing and gasping in those, but nothing that serious. Rocha has some good physical comedy, and a great scene where, post-coitus, he accidentally puts on Ana's underwear. Rather than this being played up as some easy panic joke, he takes a minute to check himself out in the panties before he slips his boxers on.
Lima gets lip service, and has to play a very '70s or '80s idea of a "tough businesswoman" which amounts to little more than defacing a sexist poster and asking not to be called "she." Her biggest battle is to convince the company to market beer to lgbtq people, which would have been very daring somewhere 20 years earlier, not so much in 2020. She mostly exists as a love interest who mutters the occasional girl power catchphrase.
The film has been criticized by some for only caring about intimate scenes with Rocha and Lima, but beyond one kiss and some glimpses at each other, that isn't really true. Initially I thought they would clash at the company, Mario out of his depth and Ana an expert shut down by sexism and nepotism, but instead they get along fine. And, likely in an awareness old romcom tropes can now be seen as a violation, Mario tells Ana he's gay and partnered before their night together, which is a positive writing choice, but also cements that there is no real conflict in this relationship - after said night it just sits in the background for the last hour. The best scene they have together (and one of the best scenes in the film) is a joyous nightclub dance sequence where Mario, after earlier feeling out of place with both his biological family and the makeshift family he had found with Fernando and the theater performers, truly feels free in Ana's company.
This leads to another source of strain for the film, and is why I'm not surprised some who didn't finish it assume the movie is simply a "gay cure." From the first time Mario sees Ana, he is in awe (which I also thought she might have called out...then again, considering he looks like Daniel Rocha, this part isn't too unrealistic). The narrative of a gay man returning to come out to his family only to find love with a woman in the company he never wanted to be part of writes itself. He lies to his boyfriend, who is hurt and angry, and is set up for his own happy resolution by having a passionate night with Mario's brother (the gorgeous and reliable Romulo Arantes Neto), with neither knowing who the other was. Contrived, but it at least would have been more than some ex-lovers get in these types of films.
Instead, Mario, after he dreams of Fernando and Ana in a pool-set fight-turned-makeout (which almost feels like a late addition, as it is so tonally different, much more sexually charged than the rest of the film), decides he wants them both. And, even though a hurt Fernando should at that point keep his distance, he, and Ana, decide to go along. The closing moments, with Mario watching them dance before joining in, even mildly imply his wet dream will come true.
I'm not sure what caused this unusual wrapup, but I tend to wonder if the underlying message of the film - the family business as the touchstone, with hard work leading you to everything you desire (even a bigoted, sexist father accepting a gay son, a pan son, and a business genius daughter), would have been undercut if Mario had actually been forced to make a choice or face consequences for his infidelity. There's a certain cynicism under the surface, making me wonder if the choice was made to not alienate any viewers by leading them to see Mario as gay or straight. It also makes me wonder if this type of I-love-everybody! Resolution may replace some gay-themed material along these lines (10 years ago, as in the Italian version I believe, he would have remained with his boyfriend) for further 'inclusion' in increasingly divisive fights over representation and equality.
I'm fine with the resolution in of itself, but the handling of Mario's pansexuality is iffy for me. I don't mind that he comes out as "loving people," rather than a label, but his realization is tied to anecdotes of never being able to choose. This is a dicey way of treating the subject - it paints his lovers as objects, and him as greedy, especially since the few mentions of why he loves them are all about how they believe in him, rarely for their own qualities. It also makes you question how much you should even empathize with Mario, given that, as his brother upbraids him for, he has had it very easy compared to everyone around him.
Fortunately, Rocha's inherent likeability and sex appeal, and his easy chemistry with Habib and Lima, go a long way to convince you to support the relationship (probably helped by Rocha playing a more discreet version of this same story on a novela a decade ago), but I wish the writing had given him more help.
There's something in this resolution, and the sight of some of the more persecuted elements of society (including a black gay man and a transwoman) singing and dancing to shill "inclusive" beer for big business, that sticks in the craw. They also get happy endings due to their service to the company, which is a nice touch, but can't entirely wash away Nany People having to plow through a speech to a betrayed Fernando about how he must stay because lgbt youth will be helped by...drinking pink beer from a big brand.
It's sometimes hard to shake the feeling that the whole project was some type of AI designed to preach heartless virtues in a very fluffy, all-are-welcome presentation format. Ultimately, the film leaves you simultaneously satisfied at some of the more moving set pieces and performances, and wary of just how far this type of masquerade will go.
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