Blame It on Rio

My last set of DVD purchases from Amazon included this four-film set which as of this writing is out of stock. I didn't realize it until very recently, after watching Blame It on Rio off the set. Thankfully, Amazon lists the movie as being available on its streaming (free through June 30 for those with Prime), while the TCM shop lists it as being available as a stand-alone DVD or Blu-ray neither of which seem to be on Amazon.

Michael Caine plays Matthew Hollis, a businessman working for a firm in São Paulo, Brazil, along with his long-time friend Victor Lyons (Joseph Bologna). Victor seems more concerned with the divorce he's going through with his wife back in America, but Victor's daughter Jennifer (Michelle Johnson) is coming down for a visit. So Matthew arranged for a a visit to the more pleasure-oriented Rio de Janeiro for the two Lyonses, as well as Matthew, his wife Karen (Valerie Harper) and their daughter Nicole (Demi Moore).

The only thing is, the vacation isn't going to get off to a good start. As Matthew is packing his luggage for Rio, Karen informs him that she booked a separate vacation for herself at a resort in the northeastern state of Bahia. Matthew gets the obvious sense that there's something wrong in his marriage, but he doesn't have any idea what that something is. Still, there's not much he can do about it, so she heads her way and the other four go to Rio.

The two young women want to experience the pleasures of Rio, while Victor is OK thinking about fully adult women since he's about to get divorced. Matthew isn't so sure. Things are about to change for him, though. Jennifer convinces him to go along with her to a traditional non-Catholic wedding reception which apparently contains elements of the old African religions, as well as a lot of fun on the beach. After dark, Jennifer seduces Matthew and the two wind up making love! Matthew feels guilty, but Jennifer seems much more up-front about her feelings for Matthew.

Victor, understandably, would be might pissed if he knew what was going on. and soon enough, Jennifer tells Victor that she's had sex with a guy old enough to be her father, although she doesn't tell Victor anything about who that man is. Victor is extremely unhappy, but comes to the brilliant solution that since Jennifer seems to trust "uncle" Matthew, perhaps he should try to disarm Jennifer and get her to reveal who the man in her new relationship is. Matthew isn't about to let on, since he's pretty certain Victor isn't going to like it when he finds out that it's he, Matthew, who had sex with Jennifer.

I have to admit that I found Blame It on Rio to be not quite as funny as I expected going in. That's less because of the material and more because of Michelle Johnson's portrayal of Jennifer as a young woman who knows what she wants and is going to get it regardless of how it might hurt either her father, her "uncle" Matthew, or the two men's friendship. The movie does ultimately resolve everything with an interesting twist that does save the movie. But it takes a long time in getting to that resolution.

For the price I paid for the four-movie set, I'd certainly recommend Blame It on Rio. If you've got an Amazon Prime membership and can watch it for free through the end of the month, that's also worthwhile. For the price of the standalone DVD, I'm not so certain.