Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Griff Lees Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Tom Dooley Maiquel (Murilo Benício) is a simple man living in Rio de Janeiro and after he loses a football bet he has to dye his hair blond. When he looks in the mirror he sees a different him and he likes what he sees.Then on entering his local bar, a local crim and trouble maker, Suel (a very young Wagner Moura), insults him. Maiquel broods on it and then decides to do something about it. This leads to his life changing beyond recognition as his actions catapult him from the scared ordinary man he was to something he had never dreamt of.Now to say anymore would spoil the plot and, more importantly, the fun, as this is a crime story, a comedy, a love story and a great watch all combined. Everyone plays their parts beautifully and the pacing is perfect. This is one of those films where if you blink you are going to miss something. The humour isn't forced either as it seems to play perfectly with the actual situations. There is some violence too so this is not a parody or anything and when it need to get serious it does not really pull its punches either. This is a film I completely loved and it is in Portuguese with some good sub titles, but not the best, and is one of those films where if you were not a fan of World cinema before you watched it, then you most certainly will be by the end.

lastliberal They loved this film in Miami, giving Murilo Benício a Best Actor award, and giving José Henrique Fonseca Best Director, and naming it the Best Film of the Brazilian Film Festival. It won other awards elsewhere, and had seven nominations.Everything I have read says it is a true depiction of live on the periphery of Rio. It's not City of God, but more a Tarantino version of El Mariachi.Máiquel (Benício) loses a soccer bet and has to dye his hair blond. He is dissed by Suel (Wagner Moura) over the hair, and he ends up killing him. He immediately goes from being an unemployed bum, to local hero.Not only does he now have an income source, he has an amazing babe in Cledir (Cláudia Abreu). He also has an extra babe in Erica (Natália Lage), who was Suel's girl. Of course, she is only 15, so he plays nice.Cledir immediately gets pregnant, and a wedding is planned. How can he resist that smile? Well, despite her obvious strong points, the fact that she cooked his pig was a definite negative.He is hired as a hit man by a local dentist (Jorge Dória) to get revenge on the man who raped his daughter. Soon, he is taking jobs from the dentist's friends. Coked up and getting the feel for killing, he soon takes a different look at Erica.Why the necessity of a hit man? Apparently the police are ineffective in the outlying areas. If you want justice, you get it yourself. Hell, the police go into partnership with him! But things are not going great on the home front. The relationship with Erica really messes thing up - and she's found religion! Lots of action, good music, and Murilo Benício was great.

freakyfreak05 ...and my x-girlfriend and that guy that bumped into me on the train. he was a cool, young, good looking dangerous guy and climbing to the top of a Brazilian ghetto. it was amazing how all the people swarmed around him, wanting to be with him, wanting to be friends, partners and lovers with the killer. it seemed like he was doing a service to the community at first, killing all these bad people. but quickly turned into a gun for hire. the only sign that he had feelings was displayed upon his pet pig and look what happened to him. if a guy like this enters your life...things will go really good for you for a time, but you'll be guaranteeing yourself a premature death too. and god bless the beautiful woman of Brazil. i still can't figure out who is prettier, Claudia abreu or Natalia lage. this is the first film i got through Film Movement. it's so cool to get these indies delivered to my house. i liked this movie a lot. i got to see a part of Brazil i will never know in real life.

Claudio Carvalho In Baixada Fluminense, in the State of Rio de Janeiro and in the periphery of the City of Rio de Janeiro, Máiquel (Murilo Benício) is a loser, who believes that God wants to f*** him and that life cannot be controlled, like a flow of a river. He loses a soccer bet with his friends and has to dye his hair blond, using the services of the gorgeous hairdresser Cledir (Cláudia Abreu). In the night, when he goes to a small bar dating Cledir to show his friend the payment of the bet and his new beautiful girlfriend, the criminal Suel (Wagner Moura) laugh him. Máiquel becomes upset and challenge Suel to a duel. On the next day, Máiquel shoots and kills Suel, and becomes famous in the neighborhood as a vigilante. The fifteen years old mistress of Suel, Érica (Natália Lage) moves to his apartment and Máiquel becomes a sensation in the community where he lives. His fame of hero reaches the upper class dentist Dr. Carvalho (Jóge Dória), who hires Máiquel to kill the man who raped his seventeen years old daughter Gabriela (Mariana Ximenes). Meanwhile, Cledir gets pregnant and marries Máiquel. This is the beginning of his successful career of killer. In the end, Máiquel believes that the are two options for like: let it go, like a flow of a river, or use reins and ride it like a horse.It seems that the success of 'Cidade de Deus' gave enough courage to other directors to expose to the world the underground life in the periphery and slums of the big Brazilian cities. 'O Homem do Ano' is based on a successful book of Patrícia Melo called 'O Matador' ('The Killer'). In the book, the story takes place in the periphery of São Paulo, but once the reality in the periphery of Rio de Janeiro is the same and due to geographical reasons, the story was transposed to the Baixada Fluminense, one of the most violent places in Brazil. Its narration in off by Máiquel recalls a film-noir. The story has most of the components of the popular and cheap Brazilian newspapers: the common murders and execution by vigilantes in the periphery of the Brazilian big cities and the religious fanaticism of the hopeless low classes. The middle and upper classes passively accepts this fearful way of life. Most of the characters in this movie represents a great segment of our society, where in some weekends can show more than seventy deaths of 'anonymous and common persons' only in Baixada Fluminense. The movie is never corny, there is no exaggeration in the situations and is based on the worst present problem of our society, the violence. Lack of education, corruption, impunity, lack of employment, very low salaries and life conditions, lack of perspective in life, lack of security, hypocrisy of the upper classes, all of these components in minor or greater proportions, result in the increasing violence showed in movies like 'O Homem do Ano', 'Cidade de Deus', 'Cidade dos Homens' and other sad examples of Brazilian society. Just as a curiosity, Cláudia Abreu has a daughter (Maria) with the director José Henrique Fonseca, who is son of the writer Rubem Fonseca. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): 'O Homem do Ano' ('The Man of the Year')