Lower City

Name: Lower City
Genre: Drama
Released: June 16, 2006
Duration: 98 min
Rating: 61
Cast: Alice Braga, Lázaro Ramos, Wagner Moura

2006

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 6 Ratings

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7.3

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7.3	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 6 Ratings

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Lower City

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Movie Details & Credits

Palm Pictures | Release Date: June 16, 2006 | R

Starring: Alice Braga, Lázaro Ramos, Wagner Moura

Summary: Two friends who co-own a cargo boat fall for the same girl.

Director: Sérgio Machado

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: R

Runtime: 98 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

Lisa Schwarzbaum

Director Sérgio Machado, who worked as an assistant to Central Station's Walter Salles, lingers sensually over every wrong move his attractive tragic trio make. Read full review

Marc Mohan

Three potent performances readily compensate for the familiar plot. Read full review

V.A. Musetto

The impressive first feature by Sergio Machado, a one-time assistant to Walter Salles ("The Motorcycle Diaries"), is a trip through a grungy world of crime, sex and cockfights. Read full review

Rene Rodriguez

Even though Lower City ultimately leads nowhere (the movie doesn't end so much as simply stop), you won't mind having taken the trip. Read full review

Michael Atkinson

A bone-tired tale underneath. Read full review

Elizabeth Weitzman

Machado establishes a realistically seamy environment for his erotic triangle, and there are some surprisingly tender moments amid the squalor. Read full review

Ruthe Stein

Two guys panting over the same babe leads to tedium, despite a near-record number of overheated sex scenes. Read full review

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User Reviews

NicoDaFlagburna

Jan 27, 2011

The premise is standard-fare and undoubtedly lightweight but there is enough here to warrant my captivation. It is the dynamics of the male relationship that makes this film attractive and despite being almost ambient in tone there is a pervading sense of emotional friction. We are offeredThe premise is standard-fare and undoubtedly lightweight but there is enough here to warrant my captivation. It is the dynamics of the male relationship that makes this film attractive and despite being almost ambient in tone there is a pervading sense of emotional friction. We are offered very little back-story about their lives which makes it difficult to judge the characters, particularly as it seems they are carrying a lot of baggage. The film raises questions relating to the roles of sexuality and violence existing either as a force for creation or destruction. Ultimately a simple film which is substantial in thought but maybe lacking in creativity. 8/10 78/100… Expand

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ChadS.

May 5, 2007

On their way to El Salvador, Deco(Lazaro Ramos) and Naldinho(Wagner Moura) attend a cock fight. Karinna(Alice Braga) wanted a quicker ride(the two men own a boat) so she took off with a trucker. "Lower City" doesn't go with her, presumably because the filmmaker wanted to establish that On their way to El Salvador, Deco(Lazaro Ramos) and Naldinho(Wagner Moura) attend a cock fight. Karinna(Alice Braga) wanted a quicker ride(the two men own a boat) so she took off with a trucker. "Lower City" doesn't go with her, presumably because the filmmaker wanted to establish that the continuation of a long-term friendship should take priority over the collective temporary lust for some midriff-baring trollop. "Lower City" is more concerned with the men. We don't learn a damn thing about Karinna because the film self-consciously wants her to remain an object of desire. If we learn too much about this girl(if say, she was abused by an uncle) the numerous love scenes by which Braga flaunts her nubility in a passionate state of undress, would seem more sorrowful than erotic if her insatiability had the appearance of a stopgap measure for her tumultuous past. At the cockfight, a cock dies. If you're completely unaware of what inevitability is in store for Deco and Naldinho, you've probably been to more cockfights than movies. The sex is hot, but since "Lower City" isn't strong on character development, or story, our attitude towards Braga's nudity takes on a "been there, seen that" disposition.… Expand

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