Lutero Luiz Movies

Jack Noah (Richard Dreyfuss) is all actor: Self-possessed, obsessive, vulnerable, and an addict for praise, his soul burns with "the craft." Having just finished a grade-Z straight-to-cable crime thriller in the fictional South American country of Parador, he gets the ultimate acting challenge (though it's more like an offer he can't refuse) from Roberto Strausman (Raul Julia), the Paradorian dictator's chief advisor. The challenge: impersonate the country's dictator, whose just died. Strausman knows just how to manipulate Noah: He takes him to a meat locker, shows him the director's body (actually Dreyfuss' brother, Lorin), threatens to kill him, and he brings clips of Noah's best reviews. Thus enticed, and bearing a striking resemblance to the man, Noah accepts the job. Under the exacting direction of Strausman, he follows the script precisely. Noah immediately enjoys the job's perks, not least of which is the dictator's scorching mistress, Madonna (Sonia Braga), but of course cannot conceal his real identity to her. A close call with Parador's revolutionaries and Madonna's brimming social conscience push Noah to take command of the role. He starts pushing a kinder, gentler social agenda, and incurs Strausman's wrath. It begins to look like Noah will play the dictator's last act, but a chance meeting with a stunt man friend (Michael Greene) inspires a caper that will change all of the characters' fates. ~ Nick Sambides, Jr., Rovi

Malandro is a Brazilian musical set in the Rio of the 1940s. Likeable prostitute Fabio Sabag is fired from her nightclub job. Fabio's pimp Edson Celulari vows vengeance upon the girl's odious ex-boss. Celulari sets about to seduce the club owner's daughter Claudia Ohana, but she proves to be no pushover. The play on which this film is based was very obviously influenced by the works of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, especially The Threepenny Opera and Happy Days. Malandro was released in Brazil as Opera do Malandro. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Reality and erotic fantasy are inextricably mixed in the inner life of Coronel Furtado (Mauricio do Valle). His military years are long past, and his inner life poses him some unique challenges as he attempts to cope with his reduced circumstances. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi