JOHNNY STECCHINO
This Italian belly-laugher stars Roberto Benigni in the dual roles of Dante, an inept, unhandsome, nice guy, who drives a school bus for Down Syndrome children, and that of a Palermo Mafioso, Johnny Stecchino, who made the mistake of ratting on his fellow gangsters.
As Dante, nothing good ever happens to him. No one ever notices him. At parties he may as well be invisible. One day, quite by accident, he meets the beautiful Maria (Nicoletta Braschi) who takes him in hand because unknown to the naive Dante, Maria has recognized that he is a dead ringer for her boyfriend, Johnny, a squealer who is in hiding from the Mafia who would like to rub him out.
Johnny is nicknamed Stecchino (toothpick) because he always has one in his mouth. When Dante, while dining in a restaurant with Maria, puts a toothpick in his mouth, Maria tells him she wants to call him "Johnny Stecchino," the plot being that Dante will be passed off as the gangster, killed by the Mafia, and Maria and the real Johnny will fly off to another country to live happily ever after.
Running along with the above are several other very funny plots. Dante has a penchant for stealing bananas. He also is being investigated by an insurance detective who suspects that Dante's uncontrollable right hand is a scam on which he is collecting disability compensation. (It is and he is.) There is also heroin that Dante is told is a medicinal powder that controls diabetes. All of the above are cleverly interwoven into the main story to make this one of the funniest comedies of the year.
Roberto Benigni combines all the talent of the slapstick comedians who have made us laugh all these years.
Screenplay by Vincenzo Cerami and Roberto Benigni. .
In Italian with English subtitles.
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Copyright 1992 Ben Hoffman
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