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PASSIONADA Send This Review to a Friend
Some films are carried a long way by acting and atmosphere and "Passionada" is an example. Sofia Milos is the beautiful immigrant Celia, who earns her living as a Fado singer in a New England fishing town with a substantial Portugese population. Although she doesn't do her own singing in the film--it's done by Misia--Milos looks striking as a performer and is most personable as a widow still grieving for her late husband whom she loved dearly and being a mother to her 17-year-old daughter.
Celia is not open to a new relationship, and she is very protective of her daughter, played by the attractive and talented Emmy Rossum. Celia suddenly finds herself pursued by a man who is mesmerized when he sees her perform. Jason Isaacs has a sexy charm as the suitor, a gambler and card counter and banned from casinos and also a cad with the ladies. He is a wanderer who likes to woo them and move on, but Celia gets under his skin. Yet she rejects him.
Her daughter, who encounters the gambler at a black jack table, wants him to teach her his way with cards, and she is surprised to find he is after her mom. They work out a deal, and when he finally begins to make time with Celia, he feeds her with lies, pretending to be a wealthy businessman. In reality he drives a car belonging to his long time friends (Seymour Cassel and Theresa Russell) and also borrows their boat to impress Celia. The masquerade can't go on indefinitely, and the crisis erupts. But Celia is still vulnerable because for the first time in years she has been enjoying herself with a man. Lupe Ontiveros plays Celia's sympathetic and worldly wise widowed mother-in-law.
The screenplay by Jim and Steve Jermanok is in many ways predictable and on the obvious side, but the cast members maintain narrative interest, and director Dan Ireland has caught the flavor of New Bedford, where the film was shot. "Passionada" has enough involving ingredients to satisfy on a number of counts. A Samuel Goldwyn Films and Fireworks Pictures release.
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