On O List of Movie Reviews

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Of Love and Shadows (1994)

Rate: 3
Viewed: 7/18

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7/18: A newspaper, as shown on the DVD cover of Of Love and Shadows, exclaimed, "One of Antonio Banderas' Best Roles!"

That sold me because I hadn't seen anything good from him apart from Desperado and Assassins. When I saw the film, I was like, "My goodness, what a bland performance."

Grossing a pathetic sum of $19,710 at the box office, the movie is at once mediocre and unconvincing. Suffering from the letdown, I kept thinking about two masterpieces with similar themes: The Killing Fields and Salvador. What I don't like about foreign films that deal with a civil war is the lack of backstory. Hence, I don't know what the hell was going on in Of Love and Shadows. How do they expect me to be fluent with Chile's problems now or then?

Antonio Banderas and Jennifer Connelly's chemistry is, for all intents and purposes, nonexistent. There's no passion in any scene despite the false advertising. As beautiful as Jennifer Connelly is, she isn't much of an actress. Her fake South American accent is a gee whiz.

All in all, it's impossible to take Of Love and Shadows seriously.