If nothing else, Lower City is eye candy, said Andrew O'Hehir in Salon.com. With its sumptuous sunsets and writhing bodies, the movie 'œhas more than enough intensity, sizzle, and visual allure to remind you why Brazilian cinema has become so hot lately.' This particular Brazilian export is typical of the genre's ability to combine art-house filmmaking with Jerry Springer situations'”here a prostitute joins two old friends, and their three-way turns into a love triangle. Even all the rough sex and violence can't distract us from the fact that Lower City is 'œa bone-tired tale underneath,' said Michael Atkinson in The Village Voice. Count Y Tu Mamá También and Jules et Jim among the films that have done this theme a million times better. By the time the movie fizzles out, it's exhausted every plot cliché in the book. Thank goodness for Alice Braga, the niece of great Brazilian screen star Sonia Braga, said A.O. Scott in The New York Times. As the sexually forthright prostitute, Karinna, she gives a 'œtough and candid performance' that almost saves the film.
Rating: R
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