Kaydan Christian
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
Hattie
I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.
Dana
An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
janesnow
I've seen the series, read the book, decided to give the film a shot. I wondered how they would be able to tell a story spanning 20 years in a 2 hour film. They couldn't.A lot of movies are based on events - a bank robbery, a kidnapping, a terrorist attack averted, a hijacking, you get the point. With gang movies, a lot of the drug stuff is condensed to a montage, with the focus being on the gang politics instead. This movie tried to do everything - two kidnappings, one terror plot, a gang's rise, gang politics, the business of the gang, gang wars (with rival gangs) and a court trial. And if that's not enough, the film wanted to show the side of law enforcement too, showing the detective trying to bust the gang. 20 years in 2 hours 30 minutes. There is a montage every 5 minutes, actually, most things are shown in quick cuts + music montages - the gang introduction, kidnapping, Terrible, drug business, Moro affair, Bologna... I stopped counting after that.The choice of casting is terrible (no pun intended). Terrible, one of the scariest people in the TV show, is shown to be a wimp, crying in front of the gang. Accorsi is a good actor, but terrible as Scialoja. He's guilty of overacting here. Screaming and waving his arms around like a cartoon Italian. Freddo, the best character in the TV show, was ruined as well. In the TV show, he's a deep and troubled character, taking you along with him in an existential crisis. In this film, pretty-boy Kim Rossi Stuart plays Freddo and actually says "Why do you hate me, huh? Is it because I'm pretty?" Seriously. Libano is a criminal mastermind on the show, on the film he's an idiot who doesn't know how to handle a gun.If you didn't know the actors, you would think that this is the low budget film remake of the TV show. The production values are low. The show looks cinematic, here, this looks like a TV film.This film fails in comparison to the show. It's less of a film and more of a collection of spoilers for a great TV show. Even if you have no interest whatsoever in the show, skip this film. It's not worth your time, unless you want to see a film about a gangster drug lord called "The Terrible" crying and wimpering in front of a boy who says "Don't hate me because I'm pretty."
diggus doggus
A warning to all, as i review the Italian language version of the movie - which i also assume to be the long cut; Just bare with me, it will all make sense soon.Romanzo Criminal (RC) is a made-for-TV film, almost three hours long, a "serialized" film as we like to call them. This is the faithful screen adaptation of a book by the same name, that much in the style of James Ellroy, purports to be a work of fiction, while actually telling a real story with a few mysterious holes filled in by fiction.In the 80's the Italian capitol, Roma, was ruled by the Banda Della Magliana, a group of ruthless criminals who wiped out the old "ruling class" by using modern methods and extreme ..well, ruthlessness; Broad daylight murders, holding corporations, organized dealings, and a desire for power that ignored all consequences. The film deals with their supposed origins, ascension to power, and fall at the hands of a determined - and lucky - marshall.Now, generally i wouldn't touch Italian film with the proverbial ten foot pole, especially a modern film and one made for TV most of all, but RC does away with most Italian modern film conventions and delivers a realistic, well paced, and altogether meaningful package. The characters are well developed(and they certainly are nothing like you will get in any other film), the acting is good (not really a great effort, since the actors were basically asked to not act, but there still is a great commitment and good final product), and the story is just fantastic.While great in the first half, the film suffers near the end, perhaps because while the first half of the film is a smaller period of time, the second is a longer period and more compressed, and while the "setting up the organization" is where most of the action and daring is, the rest is slower and more complex sub-plots are weaved in, making the storyline a bit murky.Now, i expect italians to watch this, but for a foreigner to catch this film, translated, it is still worth a shot; I personally can't vouch for the translation (and many films do suffer when translated, especially one as based on characters as this one is), but if you have the chance, try it, if translators made any effort at all you will be very pleasantly surprised.7/10 (10/10 scaled with the usual Italian muck)
demyan2
... and by that, I mean a celebrated actor with a string of macho roles (Plachido's would be Corrado Cattani from "La Piovra") who becomes a director and makes well-crafted but unimaginative, by-the-book, predictable movies.In this category, "Romanzo Criminale" easily takes the cake from "Gran Torino", taking on board every cinematic cliché it can. I hope someone catalogs them all; let me get the ball rolling with (a) Prostitute With A Heart Of Gold, (b) Lyrical Hero Dying On Church Steps, Viewed From Above, (c) Lyrical Hero's Girlfriend Not Knowing About His Life Of Crime, Heartbroken But Forgiving, after (d) Lyrical Hero Writes To Her From Prison Cell Every Day, (e) Lyrical Hero Suffering From a Fatal Disease That Does Nothing To Reduce His Smoking Looks, etc.The reason that I remember Ice's story line best is that it's most heavily coated in cheese, and evokes the closest association with the films that "Romanzo Criminale" reminded me of - Russian "Brigada" and "Bumer". (Ice is a male-model version of Vladimir Vdovichenko's character in either). It can't be good when you see a 2008 film that feels derivative compared to a 10-year old Russian TV series, itself a cliché-ridden low-IQ wannabe. Oh Michele Plachido, why didn't you hire a real screenwriter? At least he did a great job on casting; the actors (and especially actresses - Anna Mouglalis, who has the more interesting role, is a stand-out) are all great, elevating a run-of-the-mill film to a higher level.
obradovic-jelena
I expected this film to be a Pulp Fiction spin off or some mediocre crime drama with the usual shootings and token women thrown in. However, the film is excellent primarily because it focuses just as much on the complex relationships between friends and lovers, as well as the workings of the gangs themselves. Freddo and Roberta are one of the few convincing on screen couples, and the film is a great exploration of loyalties. The pace is slower than in most 'heist' type dramas but this works to its advantage. It is visually uncluttered and the music is not owepowering, so it really allows you to contemplate what the film is really about: love, loyalty, friendship. Whoever approaches this as just a film about a gang is missing out on a lot. I wasn't familiar with any of the actors before but they completely convinced me. Someone complained about criminals being too pretty in this film, but I have to say, it is only halfway through that I noticed that Freddo is actually quite attractive, as is Nero, but the film is structured and filmed in such a way that your attention is not immediately drawn to this. Rather you get to know the characters first, and only focus on their physical attributes second.
