Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Rich in Love 2’ on Netflix, a Sequel to the Brazilian Rom-Com About the Fraught Love Life of a Tomato Magnate

Rich in Love 2 (now on Netflix) apparently proves that audiences just can’t get enough of tomato-based Brazilian rom-coms. The sequel to 2020’s scintillating story about an heir to a tomato fortune and his love affair with a beautiful young physician ups the dramatic ante by establishing him as a budding tomato magnate caught between his father the tomato magnate and a new, third tomato magnate, and the implication here is, how many tomato magnates can one movie safely accommodate? What we have here is a tomato magnate triangle, and if you’re not expecting that, you’ll be even more surprised to learn that it takes precedent over the far more predictable love triangle that manifests in this movie. So the question is, will we embrace this premise or just want to throw rotten kumquats at it?

RICH IN LOVE 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Teto (Danilo Mesquita) really needs to change his name. Think about it: He’s Teto and his business is tomatoes. Oof. But for some reason, he didn’t name his tomato business Teto’s Tomatoes. No, it’s Teto Fresco, a tomato co-op separate from his father’s big fat juicy lucrative tomato business, and knowing that he’s a big-ego spoiled silver-spoon kid – as established in the first movie – it’s no surprise that translates to “Fresh Teto.” He runs it with his longtime pals Igor (Jaffar Bambirra) and Monique (Lelle), and it’s doing OK, but not well enough to prevent them from wondering if all the work they’re putting in is worth it, especially since Teto’s father (Ernani Moraes) has inexplicably decided to stop buying goods from them. But Teto’s primary problem right now is the prospect of a long-distance relationship – Paula (Giovanna Lancellotti), his physician girlfriend, is taking her practice up the Amazon to help indigenous residents, which is a level of nobility and selflessness that a lazy and pampered privileged dink like Teto struggles to comprehend.

Teto’s half-assed solution is to buy a big riverboat and take Teto Fresco up the Amazon and surprise Paula with an engagement ring. He’s feeling a little jealous because her physician partner is a kind gent, Dr. Tawan (Adanilo Reis), and together, they’re treating indigenous people who are being poisoned by mercury from an illegal mining operation. What with one thing and another, Teto ends up on a jetski that runs out of gas and he’s lost and he falls down a hill and wakes up in the care of Wunin (Kay Sara), an indigenous woman who works past her skepticism of this nepo baby’s character and teaches him humility and the positive attributes of collectivism. One trip to the local stunningly gorgeous waterfall, and the guy’s one with the earth now.

Meanwhile, Igor and Monique entertain a business offer from Everaldo (Roney Villela), who wants to co-op the co-op into his lucrative tomato conglomerate. This is usually the type of thing Teto would be drawn to like a shark to chummed waters, but being indoctrinated into the native culture inspires two developments: One, he’s not around to meet with Everaldo, so Igor and Monique pretend to be Teto and Paula, please feel free to sigh deeply here. And two, Teto wants to establish his tomato business with the natives, so they won’t be dependent upon the toxic mining business for work. Also meanwhile, Paula and Teto have a tiff and things aren’t going so well, especially since Tawan seems like the nice fella who’s far more compatible with her. Can Teto prove to Paula that he’s capable of truly changing himself for the better? More importantly, will we give even half a damn?

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Rich in Love 2 is an unholy conglomeration of Fitzcarraldo, Failure to Launch and Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.

Performance Worth Watching: The sentiment is similar to the previous movie – Lancellotti surely deserves a better screenplay than this flimsy drivel. 

Memorable Dialogue: “That’s all I need – another tomato princess.” – Monique 

Sex and Skin: I think it’s Brazilian law that women aren’t allowed to wear bathing suits that cover their glutes. 

Our Take: Rich in Love 2 is just BEGGING to be a splat on the Tomatometer. It’s overstuffed with subplots – a gay romance, a family secret, etc. – crammed into the margins of the aforementioned pair of dramatic triangles, yet still feels remarkably insubstantial. The most convincing assertion that Teto and Paula deserve to be together is the objective fact that they’re the most conventionally attractive heterosexuals in the cast of characters. There’s the inevitable montage where Teto learns the ways of the Amazonian people; the inevitable scene in which our protagonists happen to overhear a crucial conversation that identifies the movie’s true villain (although figuring it out ahead of time is kindergarten-level logical deduction); the inevitable wacky scene in which a character must dance about in a ridiculous costume to maintain subterfuge; the inevitable gag where Teto nearly gets an emergency tracheotomy after he, yes, of course, please relish the SYMBOLISM and IRONY of this occurrence, chokes on a tomato.

And then there’s the offhand treatment of the mistreatment of indigenous communities by corporate interests – it’s just another gear in the mechanism contrived to create “change” in the Teto character so his girlfriend won’t dump him. This isn’t substance; it’s condescension. I’m tempted to say it’s tasteless, but it’s hard to churn up much of an emotional reaction when the movie is so listless, everyone here regardless of culture or social status is treated with the same basic disinterest. It traffics in wholly unconvincing drama, fails to inspire a single substantive laugh, and Teto and Paula generate at best a fizzle of a romantic spark. Can it!

Our Call: SKIP IT. Rich in Love 2 is one hell of a flavorless tomato.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.