My Review: To Rome with Love (8/10)

¨If something is too good to be true, you can bet it’s not.¨

Woody Allen has been directing at least one movie every single year for the past thirty years. It was Rome`s turn for 2012 and although it isn’t as good as his previous film, Midnight in Paris, which won Allen his fourth Oscar for original screenplay, this was still a well written comedy. I laughed really hard at several scenes and enjoyed the film from start to finish. The only problem I had with the film was that the editing was a little choppy in some scenes and the soundtrack was a little annoying, but beside that the film worked really well thanks to some great performances and a great script. It was good to see Woody Allen acting again after six years (the last time was in Scoop) and he is always a charm on camera. I think I`m enjoying Wordy Allen`s films a lot more now than I did his older ones, although it probably has to do because I understand him better now. In To Rome with Love he once again seems to blab about the usual topics such as love, infidelity, fame, success, and death in a very funny and original way. I am a huge Ellen Paige fan, so I was excited to see her on a Woody Allen film and she was just great in the few scenes she shared with Jesse Eisenberg. She never disappoints. I had some high expectations for this film and it never disappointed me. Woody Allen seems to have found a pretty nice groove in Europe and has written yet another very funny comedy. Most fans will be satisfied.

The film takes place in Rome where we have several different romantic stories taking place. These stories aren`t interconnected with each other (other than the fact that they all take place in Rome) and probably aren't in the same time frame either. First we are introduced to Hayley (Alison Pill), an American tourist who is asking for directions to a local she runs into named Michelangelo (Flavio Parenti). He gladly takes her to the spot she´s looking for and romance blossoms between them. Then we are introduced to Leopoldo (Roberto Benigni), a married man who´s routine life changes all of a sudden when he becomes an instant celebrity (for no apparent reason). John (Alec Baldwin) is a successful architect who is visiting Rome, the city he lived in when he was a student. He runs into Jack (played by Jessie Eisenberg) who takes him to the very same place where he used to live when he was young. We soon discover that John really is reliving his past through Jack. Jack is living with his girlfriend Sally (Greta Gerwig) and her best friend Monica (Ellen Paige) is going to be staying with them for a couple of days. Jack can`t help but fall in love with Monica. Antonio (Alessandro Tiberi) and Milly (Alessandra Mastronardi) are a recently married couple from the south of Italy who have arrived in Rome for a job proposal. Milly gets lost in the big city and Antonio has a mistaken encounter with a prostitute named Anna (Penelope Cruz) that will lead to a huge mix up. Woody Allen also has a role in this film as Hayley`s father who comes to meet Michelangelo`s family.

 Each one of the stories work really well in my opinion although I did laugh a little harder with Roberto Benigni`s scenes which remind us all of the perks of being a celebrity, as well as the disadvantages (the overly exaggerated media attention). Woody Allen was also great as the frustrated Opera director who can`t seem to enjoy the idea of retirement and associates it more with dying. I think that is his personal philosophy and thus the reason why he continues to make films at such a fast pace. He refuses to retire from directing. The mix up between Penelope Cruz and Alessandro Tiberi also makes for some funny scenes, but my favorite story had to do with the love triangle between Jessie Eisenberg, Greta Gerwig, and Ellen Paige. There were so many different things going on in this film, but somehow Allen managed to make the film work in such a way that every character was made interesting. I`m usually not a fan of these multiple stories in one film, but here it works really well and the surprising thing is that the stories weren’t even interconnected with each other. But it works because Rome becomes the central theme of the film. I really had a fun time with this movie and would recommend it.

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My Review: Il Mostro (6/10)

¨A vicious serial sex killer is on the loose…a monster¨

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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