Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

SparkMore n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

dpernice Having gone through most of Virzi's movies, I thought I was about to see a nice and elegant comedy as previously seen in "My name is Tanino" or "Caterina goes to the city". Instead, the film is drama lacking any type of perspective beyond the elementary and stereotyped Italian postcard of a '70s middle-class family. Characters are so much stereotyped that by the end of the movie I was feeling nosed. The plot is poor and predictable, and apart from the second husband, the other actors are simply unfitted. I'm afraid that Virzi wanted to assert new directing ambitions, but that these have finished to be widely disappointing. 3 for the effort, but subject, plot, direction and acting are a mess to a point that we ended up laughing at the scene of the mother's death.

tecnodata Having just seen this movie I'd say that Virzì is seriously working on becoming a major director. His technique is steadily evolving, his stories becoming more and more complex yet intimate, digging in his own youth and background while finding his own voice and style. Not quite Fellini yet but he seems to have a penchant for rolling in wallowing, like the great master, in his own experiences, remembrances and fantasies. It's a great compliment to say no matter what confusion one might find in the plot, one cannot really stop watching it. And like a good book, once finished watching, one feels like going back an looking again at some pages to better savor them. I don't know if this was Oscar material (too intimate, and a bit difficult to read for a general audience) but surely a movie to watch again after a few days, like a good book to leaf through now and again. This is what French movie directors have been trying to convey at their best. Kudos to Virzì.

johno-21 I recently saw this at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. This film picked up three prestigious Donatello Awards (Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Screenplay) in Italy and is that country's official submission to the 83rd Academy Awards Best Foreign Film category. The story begins in the 1971 when Anna (Michella Ramazzotti), the beautiful wife of Mario (Sergio Albelli) wins a local Mrs. beauty pageant. The jealous Mario eventually throws out Anna and their two children and so begins their journey throughout this film that leads to the present day where the older Anna (Stefania Sandrelli) is dying and her daughter Valeria (Claudia Pandolfi) coaxes her brother Bruno (Valerio Mastanrea), now a professor who has a drug problem and has become estranged from his mother and sister, to pay his last respects while Anna is still alive. Told in a series of flashbacks to the past interwoven very smartly with the present this is a clever film and story with lots of wit and charm and a great cast. Also stars Fabriza Sacchi as Sandra, Anna's estranged sister. Anna stole Sandra's boyfriend Mario and when Mario and Anna split he returned to Sandra. There are lots of interesting subplots and a great supporting cast including the young actors who play Bruno and Valeria in childhood and as teenagers. Paolo Virzi directs this film and his real-life wife Ramazzotti in a family friendly manner where violence and sex are implied and not gratuitous. Nicely shot by veteran cameraman Nicola Pecorini in his feature film debut as a cinematographer. Film veterans Production Designer Tonino Zera, Set Decorator Donato Tieppo and Costume Designer Gabriella Pescucci have a clever collective eye for detail in recreating the flashback scenes of the 1970's and blend them seamlessly with the look of present day with the help of Film Editor Simone Manetti. Writer/Director Virzi wrote the original story for film with the intention of making it seem like it was adapted from a novel help of co-screenwriters Francesco Bruni and Francesco Picolo. Virzi and Ramazzotti were on hand at my screening for a Q&A. I would give this an 8.5 out of 10 and recommend it.

Iwould A beautiful and touching movie. The actors are really good - Pandolfi and Mastandrea deliver probably their best performance ever, while the common effort of Stefania Sandrelli and Micaela Rammazzotti depicts a wonderful, unforgettable female lead character, that somehow accomplish the not so easy task of being at the same time down-to-earth and larger-than-life. The story is full of grief and pain, and thanks to the overall great acting performance, those feelings seem so real that they will make you suffer (and cry). At the same time, anyway, the script is full of funny moments that will make you laugh, and laughs will wash away the tears – you know, just like in the real life. Strongly recommended to anybody.