The Right Juice (2014)

Directed by: Kristjan Knigge
Country: Portugal

Movie Review: “The Right Juice” is an English-language comedy made in Portugal by Dutch director Kristjan Knigge who now makes his debut on feature film. The story follows Oliver Fellows (Mark Killeen) a British citizen who moves to a modest house in his new land in Perna Seca, Algarve (south of Portugal), with the ambition to grow oranges and do business. However this task won’t be easy since Andreas, a greedy entrepreneur who wants to force Andreas to sell his land, canalizes all the water to his place. He also drags his wing to Oliver’s estranged wife who stays in the city hotel after arriving from London. Everything will take a good way with the help of neighbor Manel (Miguel Damião), a mechanic and medronho-drinker, and Nesta (Lucia Moniz), a dolphin trainer who will be the key to know more about Andrea’s evil plans. With a simple and sympathetic plot, “The Right Juice” has the heart in the right place but its jokes will probably tell much more to the Portuguese audiences than abroad. The score is also very Portuguese resorting to fado many times, while its obvious conclusions and imperfections restrict a better development for the story. If you’re looking for a feel-good trifle, full of beautiful dreams and innocent moralities, you can take a chance on this summertime comedy that is well intentioned but not particularly stirring. After struggling with financing, the film reached a deal with NOS, the biggest Portuguese media broadcaster in order to be locally distributed.