FILM TITLE: JOHNNY STECCHINO DIRECTOR: ROBERTO BENIGNI COUNTRY: ITALY 1992 CINEMATOGRAPHY: GIUSEPPI LANSI MUSIC: EVAN LURIE CAST: Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Paolo Banacelli, Franco Volpi SUPER FEATURES: Roberto Benigni is a good actor. And funny.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had not seen roberto Benigni, when I was told that I should see this film. I had been debating seeing the latest Pink Panther film, specially when I happen to be a Peter Sellers fanatic. Well, who cares about the panther film, anyway..... this is more like it, and better.
Johnny Stecchino is one of those films that one gets sucked into without knowing why, and eventually, it is because of the double role which the lead actor plays, and even though the acting could be considered a bit campy, it is nice, and a good shift of space.
A lonely guy, happens upon a woman, and falls in love with her, and he thinks she is in love with him. And he finds her ( or she keeps track of him, which is more likely ) a few times, until he is invited to her place in Malta. Lo and behold, as it turns out, he is a carbon copy of the girl's husband who happens to be a Mafia guy who has fallen on hard times and is being chased around. And the plot is to try and get the double shot so the other two can run off.
And the rest is an array of misadventures, that are funny and off the wall, with very subtle gags, and unusual situations. And a tour de force for Roberto Benigni, who also directed the film.
While it isn't the world's best comedy, it does have some very odd comedy bits, that directly say something about both the church and the state, and of course the Mafia.... it seems that if you are in the right side you are government, and if you are in the wrong side you are Mafia..... Ohh well.....
4 GIBLOONS Pedro Sena Member of the Internet Movie Critics Association
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