Bossa Nova

Many movies have tried to weave a web of coincidences and quirky characters into a satisfying tale of love, but few of them succeed. Bossa Nova, directed with a deft touch and acted with simplicity and genuine charm, pulls it off. Mary Ann (Amy Irving) is an American teaching English in Rio de Janeiro; her husband died years before and she has given up on love. Lawyer Pedro (Antonio Fagundes) is in the middle of a sticky divorce and wants his wife back, but when he sees Mary Ann in the hallway outside her language school, he is instantly smitten and starts taking her class. Meanwhile, another student of Mary Ann's is having an affair over the Internet; Pedro's brother falls in love with Pedro's headstrong new intern; and there's the soccer star who's taking lessons from Mary Ann so that he can join a team in Manchester. Bossa Nova has a relaxed, smooth flow, not unlike the music it's named after. The ways the characters' lives start to interlock would be preposterous if it weren't so gracefully developed--every crossed path seems unforced and natural. The romance manages to be sweet and realistic, a mixture of swooning and melancholy. Irving and Fagundes are wonderful, particularly because they aren't callow youngsters but people who've experienced some hard knocks and yet continue on. All in all, a delight. --Bret Fetzer