Moon Over Parador

Pros: Mildly amusing political satire, Richard Dreyfuss capably plays dual roles
Cons: Silly plot, one dimensional characters, boring

Pros: Cast, some good laughs
Cons: Not many laughs, some characters/performers underused

Actor "Jack Noah" (Richard Dreyfuss) is finally home, and bumps into a couple of friends. He tells him an unbelievable story where he was basically forced into taking the place of the "Parador" (played by various cities in Brazil) dictator, "President ...

Pros: Entertaining, imaginative, creative, scenic, great costumes.
Cons: Outrageous at times and unbelievable, but that's entertainment.

This movie is not just another one of those "the leader's dead/dying let's replace him with a body double." Very similar to "Dave," this Richard Dreyfuss film took hold of my attention early and kept it. It was very entertaining to see Dreyfuss morph into Parador's dictator, the ultimate test of his character's acting endeavors. Sonia Braga was very alluring as the dictator's girlfriend and supporter. In fact, the most hilarious scene in the whole movie is when she finds out that Dreyfus is not really her boyfriend, but an imposter.

While impersonation is the main focus of this movie, it is supported by a country facing a political uprising, crooked politicians, and an energetic Braga who pushes Dreyfuss to use his role as dictator to improve conditions in his country. We really enjoyed this movie, and it was a nice change of pace.