SXSW 2016 Movie Review: ‘Jules and Dolores’

In 1983, the Jules Rimet Trophy – awarded to the winner of the FIFA World Cup – was stolen from its display case at the Brazilian Football Confederation headquarters in Rio de Janeiro. In Jules and Dolores, director Caito Ortiz seeks to recount the circumstances leading up to the theft, and its aftermath, in highly comedic fashion.

Thanks to a crippling gambling addiction, Peralta (Paulo Tiefenthaler) is up to his eyeballs in debt, a fact which he tries to hide from his girlfriend, Dolores (Taís Araújo). With time running out to make a payment and avoid bodily injury, Peralta and his pal Borracha (Danilo Grangheia) hatch a plan to steal the golden replica of the Jules Rimet from the office where Peralta works.

Against all odds, the heist is successful, but when the two bumbling thieves get the trophy home, they’re dismayed to discover that it’s not a replica at all – it’s the real trophy. With the entire country of Brazil searching for the Jules Rimet, and a determined investigator (Milhem Cortaz) hot on his trail, Peralta must find a buyer so he can finally gives Dolores the life she’s always wanted.

Jules and Dolores purports to tell the “real preposterous and unusual story” of the Jules Rimet theft, but we have to imagine that the true events didn’t play out in such hilarious fashion. Ortiz has imbued his film with plenty of laughs, and each of his characters are engaging and likeable. There are some pacing and structural issues, and the fictionalized fate of the trophy is a bit far-fetched, but overall Jules and Dolores is an amusing and enjoyable caper about a landmark event that many people may not be familiar with.