‘Time Hustler,’ a Portuguese comedy, tells the story of a street artist who is transported to the year 1927 after suffering a head injury. Virguley is mistaken for Lampiao, a bandit who resembles remarkably like him.
Story
‘Time Hustler’ begins with Virguley, the protagonist, failing to deliver food to a customer. Soon after, Virguley gathers his troop for a street play. Lampiao is a Bandit. In the middle of the play, Virguley is pursued by a gang of streetfighters.
After being cornered in an alley, the gang’s leader slaps Virguley violently. Following his injury, Virguley is taken to the clouds, where he meets Padre Cicero, God’s servant. Padre Cicero then transports Virguley to a village in the year 1927.
Virguley gradually realizes that he is not only in the past, but also that he resembles Lampiao, a bandit and the village captain. Virguley simply goes with the flow and falls in love with a seamstress named Maria. She becomes fascinated with ‘Lampiao’ and befriends him. The two then decide to form a gang in order to bring about change. They quickly form their own band of outcasts.
In the midst of all of this, there is Coronel Tiburcio, who is not a fan of Lampiao. He craves power and wishes to be the sole ruler of the village. He intends to assassinate Virguley, the phoney Lampiao, with the assistance of Rufino, one of his trusted soldiers. Rufino has a hidden agenda: he wants to impress Maria and marry her. He realizes the need to remove Lampiao in order to woo Maria.
As the story progresses, the real Lampiao discovers the imposter. He decides to take a detour and return to punish Virguley. When Coronel Tiburcio discovers the truth about Virguley, he uses it to consolidate power in the village. He coerces Virguley into doing what he wants in exchange for keeping Virguley’s secret.
The villagers who once admired the phoney Lampiao now despise him. In addition, Coronel Tiburcio and Rufino intend to expose Virguley and have him killed by the real Lampiao. They would then strike the real Lampiao, which would result in Coronel Tiburcio being the Head of the village.
Virguley is left to encounter Lampiao after much chaos is caused by Coronel Tiburcio’s soldiers and Virguley’s band of misfits. Virguley gains Lampiao’s trust in an attempt to retaliate against Coronel Tiburcio. Lampiao spares Virguley and declares that Virguley will be useful to him soon.
Virguley is now free of his lies, and he successfully wins Maria’s heart through this journey. His ragtag band of misfits has become his confidants, and the village embraces him for who he is with open arms.
Performances
The performances put forward by the actors are mediocre at best. The casting in ‘Time Hustler’ is good, but their talent can not save the already sinking ship. Edmilson Filho, who plays the role of Virguley, tries too hard to be funny.
Chandelly Braz, who plays the role of Maria, has done a better job than most in the series. Her subtle punchlines landed better than all of Filho’s.
Dudu Azevedo (playing the character of Rufino) and Fábio Lago (playing the character of Coronal Tiburcio) are good additions to the series but have done little to nothing to better the script.
Positives
The wide-angle shots and close-up shots were the key highlights of the direction.
Negatives
Other than the poor execution of comical punchlines, the script is weak. The storyline occurs at such a fast pace that as a viewer, one is left confused. Too much occurs in a short span of time.
Even if ‘Time Hustler’ was intended to be a slapstick comedy, it does not fulfil its purpose of ‘comedy’. The series is anything but hilarious.
Verdict
‘Time Hustler’ is a disenchanting comedy binge. It fails to meet any criteria of comedy and the storyline is not amusing enough to make one sit through all seven episodes. Overall, it is an unbearable watch.
Time Hustler
Director: Halder Gomes
Date Created: 2022-12-25 13:30
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