Benício plays Máiquel, an unemployed car salesman in the Rio de Janeiro suburbs. Fresh from a peroxide transformation at the hairdressers, Máiquel is greeted with bar room taunts over his new image. After shooting his drinking buddy in cold blood following the hair-related jibes, Máiquel is surprised to receive gifts from well-wishers lavishing praise on him for ridding them of such an evil of society.

Now assuming a new identity as a gun-crazed guardian angel, Máiquel reluctantly lands himself a deadly reputation and becomes employed as the local assassin for every crooked businessmen and cop with an anti-social axe to grind. Inevitably, there are romantic complications, including a complex love-triangle with the ex-girlfriend of his first victim.

DID YOU KNOW?
	The Man of the Year gained recognition at The San Sebastian International Film Festival, winning Special Mention with the Horizon Award.    The lead actors Murilo Benício and Cláudia Abreu are both superstars of Brazilian TV and film

Having begun his descent into lawlessness, Máiquel may hanker for a regular job, but he continuously faces the lure of a fast buck earned at the expense of another's life. The apparent message is clear - obtaining any form of success in this neon wilderness involves a devotion to crime and corruption.

None of this moralising should be taken too seriously. The Man of the Year could be classed more as a lighthearted paean to gun-toting cowboys transported from the traditional desert townships to the crime-drenched modern city. The film represents a confident and creative work that lends fresh impetus to Brazilian cinema's recent renaissance.

Clare Norton-Smith