Blame It on Rio (1984)

Best friends and their daughters holiday in Rio only for one to fall for the other's daughter.

Director:

Stanley Donen

Writers:

Charlie Peters, Larry Gelbart

Stars:

Michael Caine, Joseph Bologna, Michelle Johnson

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Caine	...	Matthew Hollis
Joseph Bologna	...	Victor Lyons
Valerie Harper	...	Karen Hollis
Michelle Johnson	...	Jennifer Lyons
Demi Moore	...	Nicole 'Nikki' Hollis
José Lewgoy	...	Eduardo Marques
Lupe Gigliotti	...	Signora Botega
Michael Menaugh	...	Peter
Tessy Callado	...	Helaine
Ana Lucía Lima	...	Macumba Lady #1
Maria Helena Velasco	...	Macumba Lady #2
Zeni Pereira	...	Mother of the Bride
Eduardo Conde	...	Singer in the Dance Club
Betty von Wien	...	Isabella
Nelson Dantas	...	Doctor

Storyline

Caine plays a man on holiday in Rio with his best friend. Both men have teenage daughters with them. When Caine falls for the amorous daughter (played by Michelle Johnson) of his best friend, they embark on a secret, if slightly one-sided relationship. Johnson's father is furious when he finds out about the 'older man' in his daughter's life, and sets out to hunt him down with the aid of Caine!

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Plot Keywords:

outdoor sex | vacation | promiscuous past | voyeurism | brazil | 

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Taglines:

She's the hottest thing on the beach. She's also his best friend's daughter!

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 February 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Love, Rio

Filming Locations:

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Box Office

Gross:

$18,600,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sherwood Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Film debut of Michelle Johnson.

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Goofs

While driving, the vacationers encounter a procession en route to a wedding on the beach. The same set of cars forming the procession is seen to pass them twice.

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Quotes

Isabella: You are my twelfth lover in twelve days.
Victor Lyons: Really?
Isabella: I don't hurt your feelings?
Victor Lyons: No, I've always been a team player.

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Connections

Referenced in Psych: Death Is in the Air (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Chasing At Images"
Performed by Oren Waters
Music by Kenneth Wannberg (as Ken Wannberg)
Lyrics by Dennis Spiegel

User Reviews

Better than you'd think

You read a plot synopsis for Blame It on Rio and immediately you think that this just has to be a terrible movie. And besides being terrible it's also going to be downright uncomfortable to watch as the story centers around some wildly inappropriate behavior. They'd never make a movie like this today you think and thank goodness for that. Yes, those would probably be your thoughts before you watch this movie. But then you watch it and it's actually not that bad. Yes there is that uneasy feeling throughout due to the fact that the subject matter is more than a little icky. But the movie is entertaining. It's light-hearted fun. In fact you could even call it charming if not for the fact that there's nothing particularly charming about a middle-aged man having sex with his best friend's teenage daughter.

So our story is about this exceedingly inappropriate relationship. And the movie plays it for laughs. And it works? Ah, the 1980s. A very different world from today that's for sure. Blame It on Rio is never uproariously funny but there are enough good comic moments sprinkled throughout to keep things moving along nicely. In playing Matthew, the man who can't resist the charms of the teenage temptress, it is Michael Caine who really holds the movie together. An awkward character to play no doubt and Caine makes it work. From the moment we meet him, even before his wild fling, Matthew never seems entirely comfortable in his own skin. Preying on that awkwardness is his own personal Lolita. She goes by the name of Jennifer and is played by Michelle Johnson for whom comfort in her own skin was apparently not an issue. Yowzers! Easy to see how it would be difficult for any man to resist her feminine charms. But Matthew, you're forty-something, she's a teenager, and she's your best friend's daughter! This can't happen! But it does and...hilarity ensues? Yeah you wouldn't think this is a particularly comedic situation but that's the direction in which this movie goes and somehow it kind of works.

It's hard to fully embrace the movie as none of the main characters come off particularly well. The Matthew-Jennifer relationship is not the only inappropriate thing going on here, not by a long shot. You'd think Jennifer's father, what with his best friend sleeping with his nubile daughter, would be the sympathetic character. But, as portrayed by Joseph Bologna, he's a sleaze too. Who in this movie isn't? Well, there's Matthew's daughter Nicole. Demi Moore plays the role and it's a smaller part compared to Caine, Johnson and Bologna. But if you sympathize with anyone it's her. She has an innocence about her. All the adults in this movie have lost their innocence long ago. And her friend Jennifer can't wait to lose hers...with Nicole's father no less. Poor Nicole. She even has to suffer in comparison standing next to the voluptuous Jennifer on one of Rio's famous topless beaches. At this point in her life Demi Moore had not yet embraced the wonders of surgical enhancement and that leaves Nicole bashful, trying to cover up her modest assets with her long hair. Jennifer? She's not bashful. But somehow she's still sweet and charming. And there's still a vulnerability and touch of innocence to her even as she's taking off her clothes and seducing a middle-aged man. It's hard to figure. The story shouldn't work, the movie shouldn't work, we really shouldn't be finding any of this funny. But somehow the end result isn't that bad at all. Go into this movie with low expectations and you may well be pleasantly surprised.