As Good As It Gets

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Tim Maia was one of the best singers from Brazil, but much more than that, he represented the Brazilian soul (literally). Apart from his unique voice, he had a difficult personality, was explosive, irreverent, but that actually made him very funny. He was loved also for the way he talked and his vivacious, contagious temperament, full of energy.Unfortunately, none of this is really shown in this movie with the needed intensity. It falls flat. No passion, no vibrancy.Acting is wooden and the jokes don't really work, probably because of the overall more or less depressing tone of the movie, which is worsened by its slow pace.It's a shame, since Tim Maia really deserved a classy movie with international quality, for an international audience, hence be shown in cinemas around the globe. The way it is made, it's more of a conventional, boring Globo TV soap opera.