Do Lado de Fora

Boys in Brazil" was truly awful. There's nothing good in it: the story is bad, the acting is terrible, and the overdone storyline misses the mark by far.

The pacing is painfully slow, the dialogue is cringe-worthy, and the characters are one-dimensional.

This film is a disappointing rehash of tired clichés and fails to bring anything new or engaging to the table. Even the cinematography is uninspired. Save your time and skip this one entirely; it's not worth the watch.

The homophobic family is overdone and the Markus delusional and the type of character that is basically impossible to relate to.

Skip this one, cause not even a sexy scene is there to watch.

Set in São Paulo this is the story of a group of gay men / boys. Mauro is as camp as Bloomingdales at Christmas and is friends with Rodrigo, they attend the Gay Parade with Mauro's uncle (who is also gay) and there they rescue Roger - married with kids and still in the closet. He is attacked by some homophobes and they intervene along with some lesbian activists.

Well after the wake up call they all agree to come out a year later and this is their story.

Now this is fairly lightweight as a comedy, the laughs tend to rely on the stereotyped reactions of Mauro and the lies and evasions of not having come out. The acting is all pretty solid. There is even a drag queen playing the mother of one of the characters. Also this is far from a sexathon, this is done for laughs and despite some serious issues coming into play, they are not really expanded upon.

Having said all of the above I did like this; it has not been universally received, but then what ever is. The ending may leave a bit to be desired too but I do not want to reveal the plot. I do like World cinema so was predisposed to watching this, but there are better Brazilian films out there 'The Way He Looks' being a case in point but I think this is still worth a punt.

The movie started in a tacky way, but it was to show that this was how it was going to be. It has some fun moments, the clichés of coming out, clichés of gay life (especially in Brazil), and the story, despite being predictable, still had me a little caught in it. I recommend it if you're looking for some fun pastime, just don't expect a masterpiece.