Vidas Partidas

The film begins well, with a well done portrait of a misogynous and violent frustrated jerk and her victims (obviously his wife at first, but also his children). The risk of looking too much as a soap opera, as director has a long TV career and no prior feature movie and it is also a production by Globo Filmes. Actors go well, particularly Naura Schneider, who is able to portray the various moods of her character along the story. Anyway, Domingos Montagner is also very convincing in the role of the disgusting crabby jealous macho bully. The only greater problem since the beginning, in my opinion, was the Southeastern accent (typical for TV Globo soap operas...) of all characters, as the whole story is held in Northeastern states of Pernambuco and Paraíba. Unfortunately, the movies becomes confusing and flimsy in the second half, with a turning point that deviates it from the more consistent original drama, becoming a feebler court film. While direction and acting are competent, the script fails in the final part. By the way, as a political scientist I may say that, besides being a horrible human being, Raul does not seem a serious professional either...