One day Cyndi went to the video store to fetch a little flick called “The Girl from Rio”. She was not looking forward to it because there was simply no Samba in her soul. But, she was in a dark mood anyway, so what could it hurt? She put the disc in and sat down with a sigh. Suddenly there was such a wondrous sight! A blue-eyed dancer appeared in a very silly shirt. It caused her heart to flutter and stir. The unhappy girl’s sad-sad lips twitched and then formed the silliest of grins! Cyndi had found a deep-deep affection for goofy shirts and Brazilian hips! Excuse me for a moment while I go and submerge my head under a cold tap.

Umm…was that poetry? Ugh! I do believe that it does look suspiciously like really awful verse. Snort! I am going back under the tap.

This is the story of Raymond (Hugh Laurie). Raymond has a secret love for Samba dancing and it seems to be the only thing that makes him smile. He is a very unhappy guy everywhere else. Not much in his life is working out for him. He hates his job at the bank. He hates the rain which sadly seems to like him. The final layer of sludge atop the whole wobbly mold is finding that his wife hates him. She is sleeping with his boss. Raymond is ready to escape his life. He robs the bank he works for and beats feet for Rio de Janeiro.

He has a plan to find a beautiful dancer that he has seen dancing on Carnival tapes. In Rio he hooks up with a wacky taxi driver named Paulo (Santiago Segura). Raymond pays Paulo to find Orlinda (Vanessa Nunes) the leggy dancer of his dreams. When Orlinda and Raymond meet it is a seriously sizzling thing. There is some really hot dancing and a night spent all tangled up together. Poor Raymond wakes to find all of the money and his new girl gone.

Word gets out about Raymond and his wad of cash and everybody wants a piece of him. The story is a crazy funny adventure full of really colorful characters. Even the bad guys are funny. There is a mafia guy who sounds like a Latin Yoda. Can Raymond figure out how to get out of Rio with the money and his life? Can he do it before his crime is found out in England? Can he find and then keep the girl of his dreams?

I really thought that this movie would…well, suck. It so didn’t! Hugh Laurie stars in this film and is therefore in nearly every scene. He is loveable and funny in this one. The rest of the cast are all really good too. Paulo is truly funny. Orlinda is so aggressively hot she’ll make you cry. Seriously, it is totally unfair. You will want hold this movie in your sweaty little hands and keep it forever and ever as your very own. Do trust me on this. Go! Leave now and buy it!