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Two thumbs up for 'Passionada'
A sweet take on life's second chances
By JOE BALTAKE, Sacramento Bee
The goal of every movie studio is to somehow duplicate
the qualities that contributed to an earlier hit, and in this case,
independent film companies are no different from the majors.
IDP Films, the movie arm of the Independent Film Channel,
unexpectedly struck gold last year with a little number that it
distributed -- "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." And one can sense that
the company has the same hopes for Dan Ireland's
"Passionada," a modest little film that not only approximates the
qualities that drew so many moviegoers to Nia Vardalos' sleeper
hit, but actually tops them. Ireland's film is a real find -- a
sweet film about second chances in life.
And it should handily do for Portuguese-Americans what Vardalos'
film did for Greek-Americans. It's the charming story of three
generations of Portuguese women -- the striking Sofia Milos as Celia
Amonte, a widow/mother; Emmy Rossum as Vicky, her
perky teenage daughter, and the wonderful and always reliable Lupe
Ontiveros as Angelica, Celia's mother-in-law -- who live in
the fishing community of New Bedford, Mass.
When handsome British charmer/gambler Charles Beck (played by
dashing Jason Isaacs) arrives in New Bedford one day,
driving an expensive vintage (but borrowed) sports car, he zeroes in
on Celia, woos her and sweeps her off her feet.
 The car belongs to Charles' friends, Lois and Daniel Vargas (Therese
Russell and Seymour Cassel, believable as a comfortable
and comfortably wealthy couple), who happen to live in New Bedford.
Charles was drawn to the place largely because of Lois and
Daniel -- and their hospitality -- but also because of the hamlet's
hotel/gambling casino. What keeps him there, however, is Celia,
who works in a textile mill by day and sings Portuguese fado music
in the casino's lounge by night.
Charles is a charmer who always wins people over, but Celia, who is
"still married" even though she's a widow, is a real
challenge. She still loves her late husband and can be attracted
only to a man she can trust.
Unfortunately, Charles has to lie in order to get close to her.
Aiding and abetting him is Vicky, who has unsuccessfully tried to
link
up her mom with disastrous Internet dates, and who pretty much
blackmails Charles into helping her. If Charles will teach Vicky
how to gamble, she'll make sure her mom is available to him. On the
sidelines, nudging Celia towards Charles is Angelica, who
knows what it's like to be a lonely widow.
Ireland -- who made a memorable directorial debut with 1996's
pleasing "The Whole Wide World," the story of pulp fiction writer
Robert E. "Bob" Howard (starring Vincent D'Onofrio and Renee
Zellweger) -- keeps matters small and intimate here, wisely
focusing almost exlucsively on his attractive two stars.
Milos, who is relatively new to films but is best known as the mob
boss from Italy in a few episodes of "The Sopranos," has the
same earthy qualities of the young Sophia Loren. She effortlessly
drips with sensuality. Isaacs, who is usually cast as a villain
("The Patriot," "Windtalkers"), is showcased here in a rare light
romantic role which brings to mind Cary Grant.
It's still up in the air if "Passionada" will follow in the
footsteps of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," but if it does, let's hope
that it and
its stars don't end up on some hack sitcom version the way Vardalos
did. Even though their film is small, it wasn't necessarily
made for the small screen.
This story appeared on Page C1 of The Standard-Times on August 16,
2003
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