Audience Member
A newly engaged couple go to island of Contadora on vacation and from the moment that they meet their sexy Latin host, we can see that "Contadora is for Lovers" (Culture Q Connection) is going to be an adventure. New feelings arise as the Latin accompanies the couple on their adventure. Beautiful cinematography makes this a visually beautiful film and what is lacking in plot is made up for by the beautiful scenery. The idea of a love triangle is certainly not a new one but here the cast is great and overall we get a very satisfying movie.
The move is exotic and the Latin feel to it is pervasive. As Sago/Santiago (Vincent DePaul) comes to grips with the struggle of feelings that he shares with his fiancée (Renee Pietrangelo) and his Panamanian host (Tony Sago), we get a man who is emotionally conflicted and distraught. His reaction to his condition reflects the inner truth he feels and his acting came across so naturally that it was if I were watching a man face his feelings as I looked at him. Raw behavior flashes across the screen throughout the movie. In fact, all three actors existed in the moment that they experienced their journey. And we, in turn, feel for the actors.
In addition to being good movie, it is a wonderful travelogue for Contadora-a place I had never heard of-a beautiful island off of the coast of Panama. The simple story is simply fun and beautiful to watch and Gabriel (the host) is the object of empathy. His plight of not only being single and the fact that he can't seem to find anyone make him perfect for the object of our feelings. It seems he has had a past of becoming involved with those who are not available to him. He ignores good judgment and common sense and ends up in situations that he himself has caused. And watching Gabriel makes each of us realize that we are creatures of habit.
I have read reviews that compare this to a home movie. I wonder how anyone could possibly ignore the wonderful cast and photography. Sure, the plot is simple but it is also simply a beautiful love story. Sure there is not a lot of dialog and not a lot happens but it is presented so beautifully that I could not help but be moved by it. A great movie it is not, a satisfying one it is.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/23/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Hilariously awful and amateurish writing and acting -- it's like someone gave a fifth-grade class a video camera and a script. Pure porn acting without the sex, made even more glorious with zero awareness of lighting or sound. Hands-down the worst film I've ever seen.
Rated 1/5 Stars •
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
02/01/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Contadora Is For Lovers is yet another horribly incompetent film by the master of shitty film-making, Jorge Ameer. While it's thankfully not as bad as The Singing Forest, it's still one of the worst things to ever happen to independent cinema and film-making as a whole.
The premise is rather interesting: a newly married couple travel to Panama and stay at a resort known as Contadora. There, they meet their tour guide who right off the bat says he's bisexual. From there, the couple begins to explore their sexual boundaries with their new found friend in paradise. However, conflict naturally ensues as they know they can't stay together forever and their time in paradise is to be short-lived.
This film could have and should have been an interesting film about sexual exploration in ways most people will not freely admit to wanting to do because of what society would deem taboo, instead becomes a horrendously tedious, horribly made disaster that drags on and on, despite being a little over an hour in length.
I'm not expecting quality on par with the likes of Last Tango In Paris, In The Realm Of The Senses, or Lust, Caution, but I would like a film about sexuality to be handled in a much better, more mature, better written, and sexier fashion than what Jorge Ameer has shat upon the screen with this abomination.
Despite funding from the Panamanian government and various studios, the film looks like shit right from the get-go because it looks like it was filmed with a cheap video camera. I talso doesn't help that there is no proper sound quality because of a lack of microphones. What the camera recorded is how it stayed for the finished product, which is unacceptable, because all the voices sound muffled and unbalanced.
It also doesn't help that the storyline is a miserable train wreck that is shallow, features virtually no character development, no insight into human behavior or sexuality (Apparently straight men can turn gay at the drop of a hat), piss-poor sex scenes and little nudity (Sex scenes generally only amount to stroking, kissing, pillow fights, and playful wrestling), dreadful humor, and implausible scenarios involving how the tour guide seduces the couple.
However, there is one bright spot in this disaster and that is actress Renee Pietrangelo. While she wasn't exactly amazing, I felt she gave a decent performance even amid all the disastrous film-making choices and also being surrounded by atrocious actors. She was surprisingly bubbly and engaging to watch because she was the only actor in the entire film to give any sort of damn about her performance.
Outside of that one redeeming quality, the film has absolutely nothing else to offer. Jorge Ameer is a film-maker who continues to prove that he cannot do a damn thing right. His films represent the very worst independent cinema has to offer to the world and he should be avoided at all costs like the plague.
Rated 0.5/5 Stars •
Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars
02/26/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Contadora is for lovers, NOT for movie goers. The story makes no sense; the lighting was too harsh at times, but looked like it was lit by a flashlight at other times; the sound quality was so poor, I think the microphone was in the ocean while the actors were talking; and the camera work was so jumpy! It looked like everything was done in one take - if an actor stumbled on a line, or something went wrong, why wasn't that scene re-shot? How did that end up in the final movie? Wonderful performance by Tony Sago.
Rated 0.5/5 Stars •
Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars
02/09/23
Full Review
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