I watched 'dot the i' mainly because, Gael Garcia Bernal and Natalia Verbeke are in the lead roles, along with James D'Arcy. I have seen several Spanish movies of Gael and Natalia, and was really curious to see how do they perform in English.
I must say that director Matthew Parkhil has the raw material to make it big. This is his first movie and he will improve if he continues working on better scripts. The movie starts in the way a usual love triangle would start. A Spanish girl, Carmen (Natalia) is going to get married to a Britisher, Barnby (D'Arcy) and accidentally bumps into a Brazilian, Kit (Gael), on the eve of her wedding. This results into a frenzied, forbidden but passionate relationship. Even after she gets married, she is not able to get rid of her relationship with Kit. Barnby, a committed lover and a typical loyal husband, is aware of this, and is completely shattered. Unable to cope with the infidelity of his beloved wife, he is on the verge of committing suicide. Wait!!!!!! This all sounds so monotonous! So predictable! But no! The story of this movie is more unpredictable than one can really think of. There is an interesting twist in the plot here, which takes the 'Reality show' culture to task.. To a critical viewer the plot might seem to be too unreal but it is entertaining otherwise.
Apart from the plot being over-fictitious, the movie has some more drawbacks. Dialogues are written a bit poorly. In order to build up a story and make the twist look more shocking, (a la Shyamalan), the director has compromised with the cinematic rhythm. The movie is unevenly paced. The cast is international and sale-able. Natalia Verbeke is a perfect choice for the character of Carmen - Latin, passionate and gullible. D'Arcy looks excellent in the pre-twist part of the movie, however, in the post-twist part, he does a good job, but one may feel that something is missing. Gael Garcia is one of the most talented international actors of our times. However, neither his looks nor his accent make him look Brazilian. I have a feeling that he was the weakest link among the lead actors, even though it is not his fault. Natalia Verbeke, innovative plot, good direction, unrealistic twist in the tale, and poor screenplay: all put together fetch 6/10 for 'dot the I'.
I must say that director Matthew Parkhil has the raw material to make it big. This is his first movie and he will improve if he continues working on better scripts. The movie starts in the way a usual love triangle would start. A Spanish girl, Carmen (Natalia) is going to get married to a Britisher, Barnby (D'Arcy) and accidentally bumps into a Brazilian, Kit (Gael), on the eve of her wedding. This results into a frenzied, forbidden but passionate relationship. Even after she gets married, she is not able to get rid of her relationship with Kit. Barnby, a committed lover and a typical loyal husband, is aware of this, and is completely shattered. Unable to cope with the infidelity of his beloved wife, he is on the verge of committing suicide. Wait!!!!!! This all sounds so monotonous! So predictable! But no! The story of this movie is more unpredictable than one can really think of. There is an interesting twist in the plot here, which takes the 'Reality show' culture to task.. To a critical viewer the plot might seem to be too unreal but it is entertaining otherwise.
Apart from the plot being over-fictitious, the movie has some more drawbacks. Dialogues are written a bit poorly. In order to build up a story and make the twist look more shocking, (a la Shyamalan), the director has compromised with the cinematic rhythm. The movie is unevenly paced. The cast is international and sale-able. Natalia Verbeke is a perfect choice for the character of Carmen - Latin, passionate and gullible. D'Arcy looks excellent in the pre-twist part of the movie, however, in the post-twist part, he does a good job, but one may feel that something is missing. Gael Garcia is one of the most talented international actors of our times. However, neither his looks nor his accent make him look Brazilian. I have a feeling that he was the weakest link among the lead actors, even though it is not his fault. Natalia Verbeke, innovative plot, good direction, unrealistic twist in the tale, and poor screenplay: all put together fetch 6/10 for 'dot the I'.