Film Reviews

Chico and Rita

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• Details: Spain/UK / 94mins (15A).

A classic love story with a dash of sex, Chico & Rita's cool animated style allows some originality to find its way into a rather familiar story. Bar the rather brilliant Toy Story 3, the animated movies pitched at adults have fared better than their younger counterparts this year, and Chico & Rita can join Mary & Max and The Illusionist in that canon.
It's Cuba, late '80s, and former jazz musician Chico (Ona) makes his way home after another soul-destroying day shining shoes. When he hears a tune he wrote on the radio for the first time in years, it sparks memories of a time forgotten. Flashing back to Havana, 1948, Chico, then a hip pianist on the jazz circuit, encounters the sultry tones (and curves) of singer Rita (Meneses). The two hook up and form a fiery duo, both on stage and off it. When Rita is headhunted by an American bar owner and offered a contract in New York, another blistering row (typical of their amour fou relationship) sees Rita accept the job and make for America. Chico follows but life, that annoying thing, strives to keep the would-be lovers apart.
Using the rotoscoping style of early Disney (and the recent The Illusionist), Chico & Rita glides through its simple story with a suave style. The animation, which was shot live and drawn over later, allows the characters to move realistically but without those awkward pauses synonymous with the technique. The cities too seem to spring too life and are more than just background scenery. Cool, hip and sexy, Chico & Rita emphasises the latter with the rather lewd approach to Rita's body; the camera is in love with the way she moves and finds it hard to tear itself away from her swaying hips and heaving breasts to finally engage again with that bothersome plot situation. This may be a story about two lovers but with all that physical attention on Rita it favours Chico's version of events.
Music plays a massive part here and jazz fans will delight in the name-checking Thelonius Monk, Cole Porter, Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente and Charlie Parker, who also appear on its soundtrack. A wonderful and old-fashioned story, Chico & Rita will appeal to those who like to feel their cold, cynical hearts melt for just a short time.

Review by Mike Sheridan