This slapstick comedy relies heavily on one of Italy`s best actors, Roberto Benigni. He won an Oscar for his comedic performance in Life is Beautiful, and we all know how difficult it is for an actor to win an Oscar in a comedy (it has only been done six times in its more than 80 years). But before there was Life is Beautiful, Benigni was already beginning to rise to fame with his film Il Mostro (The Monster). I was not impressed for the first 20 minutes or so because I found his performance over the top and a bit exaggerated. Benigni relies heavily on his physical comedy and many have compared him to the geniuses of Charles Chaplin or even Buster Keaton. I thought Benigni´s performance was a bit too much, but as the film progressed I found the clever situations and dialogues pretty funny. He did a better job writing this film than he did acting as the laughs begin once we see how each one of his awkward situations are misinterpreted by the police. Even the great Federico Fellini has recognized the great talent of this man so it wouldn´t be wise to ignore this man´s work (except for Pinocchio, we can all skip that one). Benigni not only wrote and performed in this film; he also directed and produced it as well, but the true star of the movie is Nicoletta Braschi, his wife, who has worked alongside him in all his movies. This is a very funny comedy; it just takes a while to pick up because of all the silliness in the beginning.
Il Mostro begins with a news report about a serial killer on the loose who has now killed 18 females over the years and police have no prime suspect, until an innocent man named Loris (Roberto Benigni) has the misfortune of hitting on the wrong woman. Loris is working as a landscape gardener during a party and after a mix up he hits on the wrong person and later even more unfortunate incidents involving a chainsaw convert him in the prime suspect. The police decide to follow this man around in order to find the evidence they need to capture him and Loris continues to get caught in unfortunate situations which only solidify the suspicions of the police force. An undercover policewoman named Jessica Rossetti (Nicoletta Braschi) is assigned the task to get close to Loris and try to seduce him in order for his murderous instinct to take place. Jessica does all she can in her power to seduce this innocent man and works along police psychologist Paride Taccone (Michel Blanc) who is very intrigued by his subject and confident this man is the monster. Several funny scenes take place, all involving this police mix up and catching Loris in rather unfortunate situations.
The highlight of the film is probably the scene in which Loris and Jessica invite Paride and his wife for dinner and the psychologist analyzes him with the excuse that he is measuring him for a suit he is tailoring, all the while his wife suffering from nerves of having to be in the same room with the monster. I think that the movie is worth a rent because it has some very funny moments although the first half hour is pretty slow and dull. Braschi does a great job and plays a totally different role from the one in Life is Beautiful. She is more of an extrovert in this movie because she has to try to seduce Loris. The psychologist is also pretty funny and his stereotypical performance garnered several laughs in this film. Overall the slapstick comedy works and will have you smiling. The awkward situations that Loris gets in are a bit exaggerated, but the mix up is rather funny. The characters are one-dimensional, but that is the point in these slapstick comedies as they tend to be very stereotypical. This is a funny movie although it is not a masterpiece like Life is Beautiful was.
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