Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Winifred The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

MisterWhiplash Sometimes you almost forget you saw a movie, and then it comes back in a flood and there's some pleasant memories or not so much. Ciao Professore is that moment when I look this movie up on IMDb and realize that I sat and watched the thing from start to finish and have a memory of even enjoying it... and the reason it's in a haze is because it was shown to me in Italian class in high school. Was it good because it was something distracting me from the pain of high school, or because it was genuinely good and funny and insightful? Somewhere in the middle, and I think that having to watch it and note the Italian words was a part of my ambivalence in liking it more. Maybe I'd feel different about it today. For now I'd say if you ever come across this movie about an unconventional Italian teacher getting the town's wayward third grade students into something better than before with comic results - sort of like the wacky version of a Lean on Me, if that can possibly make sense - watch it, it's fun. If you go in expecting the Wertmuller of Seven Beauties, it's not that. It's her making a "kids" movie... which has its own edge, to be fair.

DavieAyers Yes, there's the exploration of the teacher - pupil relationship, the North versus the South (Italian-style) dichotomy, the familiar refrain of an elder imparting wisdom upon youth. But what I find most fascinating about the movie is the fact that the kids are, in many ways, more experienced, or understanding of real world survival than the professor. And so, in a sense, throughout the movie, they seem to be teaching him what life is about, too. I find it quite satisfying, then, that in the end, the professor and his pupils find a compromise in their morals and behavior that mutually benefits them and their relationship. The scene of the teacher and the kids speedily absconding on their bikes perfectly symbolizes the professor and his pupils' transformations.

Lee Eisenberg Many of Lina Wertmuller's movies (such as "Seven Beauties" and "Swept Away") have dealt with the North-South divide in Italy. "Io speriamo che me la cavo" (called "Ciao, Professore!" in English) has Northern Italian professor Marco Sperelli (Paolo Villaggio) getting sent to a destitute town near Naples and having to get used to being a teacher there, especially with the presence of a young hoodlum in the school. Maybe it's not Wertmuller's greatest movie, but it is something that I would recommend - although I should warn you, there's some stuff here that might be a little shocking to find in a movie dealing with children. Buon viaggio!

tkingsbu This movie is a true gem...even with all the swearing it still retains an almost disney like innocence. The Italian children that are in this movie will absolutely amaze you...most north-american style child actors are guilty of either complete lack of talent, or of being hams...not so here.... not to say many of the scene's aren't over the top..they are...but they are done so well, and the comedy and drama handled so deftly you take it all in stride.... This movie is on par with another foreign film called "Children of Heaven"....different subject matter, but same sense of comedy and drama.