An average movie

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, I have to admit that I had never heard of Sergio Vieira de Mello before watching this movie but he was definitely an interesting guy. Unfortunately, it seems that the life of a diplomate was rather difficult to turn into a movie. Indeed, most of their job, even if it can be terribly important, basically consists in sitting around a table and have a discussion with someone else which doesn’t sound narratively really exciting. On the other hand, Netflix also released recently ‘The Two Popes’ which was basically about two guys talking about various things and it worked fine. Anyway, I believed that the makers somewhat struggled with the material and, to cover it up, they used the usual gimmick of mixing up the chronology. As a result, it made the whole thing looked more complex than it actual was and it also allowed them to deliver several scenes which were either really similar or even identical. Another bewildering choice was to focus so much on his romance with Carolina Larriera. I mean, I believe that Ana de Armas is really lovely and she might have a bright future ahead of her but  it felt rather misguided to spend half of the running time on this love affair. At least, Wagner Moura delivered here another strong performance. Indeed, his work here was completely different than what he did in ‘Narcos’ or in ‘Tropa de Elite’ but he was once again completely convincing and riveting to watch. Anyway, to conclude, even if the whole thing turned out to be rather disappointing, I still think it is worth a look, thanks to Wagner Moura and because de Mello was a compelling man.