AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Lawbolisted Powerful

BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Johntechwriter The conceit of this odd little film is that to experience family love the late-middle-aged American man must return whence he found it -- to Italy of course!The score is lovely but the sound quality execrable. The comedy hits Americans sideways but the location shots of Naples are breathtaking. (What can Florence be like?) The storyline is all over the place but then it doesn't matter because we are spellbound by every scene where Lemmon and Mastroianni are together. Both are at the top of their form, not out of any sense of competing, but rather out of respect -- to their characters, to their director, and to each other.Lemmon is the most restrained I've ever seen him. His tendency to be seen working is quelled, perhaps, by Mastroianni's generous willingness to cede the center of the stage.So what we have is a little movie with a somewhat pretentious theme that nevertheless, because of its idiosyncrasies and contradictions, and especially because of the performances of its leads, is well worth viewing.

happipuppi13 I recently came across a copy of this film on a very old VHS/rental copy,which I bought at Goodwill. #1.99. It's age of course made it jumpy in some scenes but otherwise it looked picture perfect in terms of color. The movie itself is a wonderful discovery and like most films I'd never heard of,it turned out to be totally worth the time invested to watch it. The set up is simple but the idea of a man consoling his sister for 40 years in getting over the departure of her WW 2 romance is priceless.Lemmon's character,due to the exaggerated letters written with his name signed to them,has become a legendary figure in Naples. So upon his return visit he's astounded how everyone seems to know him,despite never meeting him,before. The overall story is a series of what seem like unrelated events but they seem to fit the story well. Also,upon first viewing it seems like this is a lost 1970s Jack Lemmon movie but was made in 1985 actually. The old look of Naples may be the cause of that because i searched the box looking for the date of release. Overall,I found it not wildly funny but funny in a more dry humored, offbeat and even surreal sense. Surreal because I doubt any of the odder things that happen here could happen for real. Which is the key ingredient in making this enjoyable,as well as it's two big name stars.10 out of 10! Voila! (END)

stannotuttibene Pasta, as the staple food of all Italian households, serves as the symbol of that which sustains us physically. And life long relationships is what defines each and every one of us. In this respect, watching Mastroianni as Antonio and Lemmon as Robert is like watching two master painters at work creating a human landscape spanning decades.In Antonio, Mastroianni reveals a man of integrity, caring, love and a sense of what makes us all human. Juxtaposed in Robert, Lemmon initially shows us a tired, bitter and disconnected man who no longer sees the real beauty in life. One cannot find two more opposite men at their respective stages in life. But it is here that the audience enters into their world or re-discovery.As always, Jack Lemmon inhabits the soul of his character (Robert) while portraying the angst felt by a man in deep internal turmoil. But being the great actor Lemmon always displayed, he does not leave us with this one dimensional view of Robert. Rather Lemmon takes us, as the film progresses, on a journey into his re-discovery of a time in his life when happiness was real, taken for granted and lost. And in that realization, Lemmon gives us the real bitterness of his character. Having once loved Antonio's sister during his days in the Army while stationed in Italy, Robert knew, perhaps for the only time in his life, real joy and kinship with others.Mastroianni gives a masterful performance of a dedicated bank employee who while he is not rich monetarily is rich in the knowledge of the love and respect he enjoys from family and friends. When Robert returns to Italy on a business trip in the present day, Antonio becomes overjoyed with the thought of rekindling the friendship he once shared with Robert. Mastroianni plays, with youthful enthusiasm, his excitement in seeing his 'old friend' Robert again. Antonio, in his simple way, has never lost sight of the true wealth of life. It is in this simplicity that Robert finds, at first, exasperation and then regret.But watching these two masters of cinema go to work with their characters is liking watching a sculptor taking a lump of stone and turning it into a recognizable form. Lemmon and Mastroianni take the basis of their characters and give a master class in blending the two diverse characters. It is in this blending that both Antonio and Robert learn the real lesson in life - people's lives may change but their core does not. In the end, Antonio is aided by Robert who understands the importance of taking swift action to save Antonio's son who has gotten involved with some unsavory characters. Antonio comes to realize that his friend never stopped caring for him, he was just side tracked by his life in America. For Robert, he has once again felt that exhilaration that we can all know if we allow ourselves. And that is the exhilaration of unconditional, ever present love by friends and family which is the basis of all human relationships.The final scene of the film is very fitting as we see Robert and Antonio's family sitting at the family dinner table being served pasta. The two staples of life are joined here just as Robert and Antonio were once again.

theowinthrop This film came and went too quickly in 1985, but I was fortunate enough to see it in a movie theater at the time, and later to get the video of it. Jack Lemmon is an American business executive on a business trip to Naples (where he was stationed in World War II). He is a crabby, middle aged man, who has financial success but has lost a sense of enjoyment in life. Reenter his old friend Marcello Mastroianni, whose sister was once dating Lemmon. Lemmon is at first suspicious and standoffish (he barely recalls Mastroianni) but his curiosity makes him take up Mastroianni again. The latter is a clerk in a bank, but he is a part-time actor and dramatist, and the center of a large family group. He also has had an odd habit of dying and being resurrected again, since childhood. Lemmon gradually finds his humanity being restored, and finding he wants to be re-involved with his old friend's family. The conclusion veers to tragedy, but the conclusion is very sweet. I recommend this film strongly, to people who wish to believe.