| Passionada | 
 enlarge | Director: Dan Ireland
Actors: Jason Isaacs, Sofia Milos, Emmy Rossum, Theresa Russell, Lupe Ontiveros
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.94
Buy Used: $2.13
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Avg. Customer Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 38451
Format: Ac-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Chinese (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Japanese (Subtitled), Portuguese (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Thai (Subtitled)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 104
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: 04319
ISBN: 1404952705
UPC: 043396043190
EAN: 9781404952706
ASIN: B0001BKBP2
Theatrical Release Date: 2003
Release Date: April 6, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Movie disc only! We liquidate dvds from a large national rentailer. Movie disc works fine and we'll ship it in a protective sleeve for you. There is a 15% chance that it may contain a rental sticker on the disc that we were unable to remove. In stock and ships today.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Unlikely romance is the subject of Passionada, an atmospheric piece just offbeat enough to be likable. Set in the flavorful Portuguese fishing community in New Bedford, the film offers two quirky lovers. The beautiful Sofia Milos plays a skeptical widow, sternly raising a teenage daughter (Emmy Rossum), who nevertheless shows her passionate side when she sings traditional Portuguese fado songs at night. Jason Isaacs, veteran of many villain roles (The Patriot, Peter Pan), is a gambler new to town, who is suitably entranced by this lady's singing (though he must hide his profession if he wants a chance with her). The story has its rocky moments, but director Dan Ireland (The Whole Wide World) lets the actors work up some winning chemistry together, and the sultry soundtrack helps; the fado singing is dubbed by Misia. This will go down easy for romance fans, and you know who you are. --Robert Horton
Product Description
The story of three generations of Portuguese women in the fishing community of New Bedford MA. Young and beautiful Sally still mourning the loss of her deceased husband has resigned herself to work in the textile mill care for her elderly mother and worry about her beautiful rebellious teenage daughter Vicky. However when British charmer Charlie comes to town he woos Sally until he sweeps her off her feet...That is until she finds out that Charlie is not the person he claimed to be when they met. Jason Isaacs (Black Hawk Down The Patriot) Sophia Milos (TV's "CSI Miami").System Requirements:Running Time 104 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG-13 UPC: 043396043190 Manufacturer No: 04319
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| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
 Suspend disbelief and just enjoy it June 5, 2004
17 out of 17 found this review helpful
Yeah, yeah, it's a highly unlikely situation, and it's not believable in lots of parts. But still. Just get over it and sit back to enjoy this lovely and entertaining movie. Set in New Bedford, a Portuguese fishing town, it tells the story of a drop deal gorgeous widow (Sofia Milos) who spurns all potential suitors, is living adjacent (duplex) to her mother-in-law (the mama from Real Women Have Curves), and is raising her teenage daughter very strictly. The only place she releases the soul of her passion is in restaurants where she sings fado music, passionate Portuguese ballads of intense drama.
Of course the daughter is no dummy and finds ways to sneak off to casinos; for inexplicable reasons, she yearns to be a card shark. She finds a guy who just might be willing to teach her a thing or two. Happens the guy also has heard Mama singing her fado gig and has fallen ace over deuces for her.
Some great scenes, some great music, some poignant scenes, lots of touching humor. A satisfying way to spend an evening.
A flawed, but appealing, romantic comedy February 29, 2004
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
(Note: this review is based on the theatrical release, not the DVD version) I am not generally a fan of romantic comedies; I drove 400 miles to New Bedford, MA, to watch this one purely to see Jason Isaacs, and I was not disappointed! The movie apparently went through a change of cast (Isaacs replaced another actor at the very last possible minute), it went through at least one change of ending, and I suspect the script was still being tinkered with the night before I saw it, all of which goes some way to explaining its somewhat uneven pacing and lurching storyline. The script was reportedly written on spec, at least in part to promote the town of New Bedford, last the location for a movie when Gregory Peck appeared in "Moby Dick", and the screenwriters have ladled on the atmosphere with a vengeance.
The basic storyline, as it finally comes down to us, has the *gorgeous* Sofia Milos, absolutely radiant here, playing Celia Amonte, the subdued widow of a drowned Portuguese fisherman, giving vent to her passion and grief at night singing 'fado' in undeserving clubs. There she is encountered by inexplicably British card-counting unsuccessful professional gambler (*phew*) Charlie Beck, the aforementioned Jason Isaacs. Charlie is immediately, understandably, smitten with Celia and sets about trying to weasel his way into her life.
Isaacs has a wonderful ability to imbue the most two-dimensional character with significant backstory, and his Charlie, recently released from a prison sentence served in part to protect wealthy pal Daniel Vargas (the always delightful Seymour Cassel) has drifted rootlessly, never accepting what he was dealt, always on the lookout for the scam. Clad in a lurid array of Hawaiian shirts, he is, in a sense, always on vacation from real life. After another series of unlikely coincidences he enlists the aid of Celia's teenage daughter (the winsome Emmy Rossum) to pull the wool over Celia's eyes with the help of some of Daniel's handy expensive props, and cons Celia into believing that not only is he a legitimate businessman, but his intentions also involve a boffo plan to reinvigorate New Bedford's ailing fishing industry (sadly unlikely, unless he can figure out a way to restore global fishery stock).
Anyway, the course of true love never does run straight, at least in Hollywood movies, and there are numerous twists and turns for Charlie and Celia to contend with. Many of these feel false and imposed, but Isaacs and Milos have incredible chemistry together, and despite yourself you find you really care about seeing these two together. Their delicate love scenes (the most memorable involves Celia producing what looks like a banquet for 30, rather than refreshment for an intimate tête-à-tête, including about $150 worth of seafood, gorgeously displayed in long lingering shots worthy of Gourmet magazine) positively smoulder, though they are devoid of any graphic content.
Director Dan Ireland worked hard at wresting a coherent story out of this, and too much of his labour shows on screen, but the movie itself is beautiful, a paean to the community of New Bedford and to its two stars, a refreshing change from the usual bland 20-somethings. I found it, despite its flaws, thoroughly enjoyable.
 Sofia Milos Shines in Otherwise Bland Romance. April 15, 2004
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
In the Portuguese community in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Celia Amonte (Sofia Milos) lost her fisherman husband to the sea. Seven years later, Celia works in a factory by day, sings passionate ballads by night, and still grieves for her husband. One evening, a professional gambler named Charlie Beck (Jason Isaacs) hears Celia sing and falls head over heels for her on the spot. But Celia is married to widowhood and distrustful of gamblers. Celia's brash teenaged daughter, Vicki (Emmy Rossum), proposes to help Charlie hide his lifestyle and woo her mother in exchange for lessons in card-counting."Passionada" was directed by Dan Ireland and written by Jim and Steve Jermanok. Setting this romance in Portuguese community of New Bedford gives the film a nice texture and sense of place. The cast is impressive. But somehow the story is just flat and not quite credible. Sofia Milos gives a charismatic and emotionally astute performance. She commands the audience's attention in every scene that she's in, and she is "Passionada"s greatest asset. The rest of the film's cast is convincing enough, but not able to overcome the story's clichés and general blandness. Lupe Ontiveros delivers another of many apt matriarch performances as Celia's mother-in-law. Emmy Rossum, whom you might recognize as "the daughter" in Clint Eastwood's melodramatic noir "Mystic River", plays another daughter of a different disposition here. Rossum is a real up-and-comer whose talent and screen presence shows through the weaker spots in this script. Theresa Russell gives a strong supporting performance as Lois, a friend of Charlie's, which made me wonder why I don't see more of her in movies these days. "Passionada" has some talent behind it, and Sofia Milos really impresses as Celia Amonte. But this film lacks spark in spite of its capable cast. The DVD: Bonus features include a deleted scene, an alternate ending, and two audio commentaries. The alternate ending is from an earlier version of the film and played poorly with test audiences. It's mismatched and ill-conceived by the director's own admission, so it's not worth your time. The deleted scene and alternate ending are accompanied by optional commentary from director Dan Ireland, Jason Isaacs, and Sofia Milos. The first audio commentary by director Dan Ireland and cast members Jason Isaacs and Sofia Milos is pretty good. The second commentary is by the film's writers, brothers Jim and Steve Jermanok. This commentary is very low-key and discusses the writing process from the screenplay's conception to fine-tuning the script. It's slow, but if that's your area of interest, it will give you insight into how people go about writing a film.
Sweet and Simple April 24, 2004
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Being a Jason Isaacs affectionado, I could not pass it up. I'm glad I didn't. It's a sweet little romance about a Portuages women who vows never to love again after loosing her husband at see. Then in comes Jason,aka Charlie Beck who is a gambler and falls in love with the lady after hearing her sing. I'm quite curtain this is Jason's first Romantic-Comedy leading role and he pulled it off without a hitch. The other actors were just as wonderful, which is important to make a movie memorable.
 Cute and funny! January 2, 2005
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This movie is more the silly side of romantic, which is wonderful. Seeing Jason Issacs playng something other than a villan that seems to die all the time is great too! He does a good job with his character, but I wish they hadn't made hm wear a wig! The romance is cute,though at times a little childish. The music will have you dancing, or other times wistful. A truly beautiful movie.
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