Our hero is played by the canine thespian Amendoim (Peanut), who as a pup is abandoned on the roadside, left to fend for himself. The little guy grows up tough and resilient on the streets of a big city in Brazil. He shuns friendship with humans and other dogs, but one day a young man distracts a butcher so he can make off with some sausage. He sneaks a ride back to the fellow’s workplace.
The young man is Pedro (Rafael Vitti), a talented chef with a busy life. The mutt sneaks into his restaurant, and serendipitously causes a mini disaster that thrusts Pedro into the opportunity of a lifetime: to prove he can ascend to the head chef role. When the mutt turns up wet and bedraggled at his apartment, Pedro says thanks by taking him in.
And a friendship is born.
Pedro dubs the mutt Caramelo, the name for a Brazilian mixed breed known for their tawny hair. Their friendship is not without difficulties. Caramelo can be a darling, and a devil. Able to beguile with those sad looks, but capable of reducing Pedro’s apartment to rubble. But their friendship also leads Pedro to a romantic acquaintance with Camila (Arianne Botelho), a dog trainer struggling to keep her business afloat.
See It
Not long into Caramelo you know you’ll need a box of tissues. It’s that kind of movie. Be forewarned.
But writer/director Diego Freitas does a fine job of orchestrating the good times and crises this trio faces. Rafael Vitti is excellent as the career-obsessed Pedro, who begins wanting nothing more than to elevate his version of street food into the realm of fine dining, but who gets diverted down paths that enrich and, ultimately, save his life.
The ending will strike you as overlong, but it is beautifully, beautifully rendered. Keep the tissues close.