Plodding narrative mars ‘The Man Who Copied’
More than 100 movies will be screened at the eighth Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, which runs from today through July 25 at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. The only feature film available for preview was Jorge Furtado’s “The Man Who Copied.” It’s a charmingly droll but far too leisurely and unfocused account of a shy 19-year-old would-be cartoonist named Andre (Lazaro Ramos, star of the radically different “Madame Sata”), who works as a photocopier operator in a book and stationery store in Porto Alegre in the south of Brazil.
He’s smitten with a pretty salesgirl (Leandra Leal) at a nearby clothing store, who lives in an apartment across from his own, but as with pursuing all his dreams and desires, Andre is hampered by a lack of money. When an idea strikes him as to how he can overcome this problem, he and his friends are launched on a high-risk adventure.
The film is highly personal, with sharp observations about the workings of human nature, and boasts a lot of fresh touches. The cast is personable and the film has a distinctive look and feel but is marred by Furtado unaccountably allowing his story to lag and ramble interminably.
*
Kevin Thomas
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‘The Man Who Copied’
Where: Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, Lloyd E. Rigler Theatre at the Egyptian, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood
When: 3 p.m. Sunday
Contact: (323) 469-9066
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