To Want to Fly

Fond memories of 'The Icicle Thief' (1989) aren't enough to salvage this 1991 comedy by Maurizio Nichetti, which doesn't add up to anything more than a single, admittedly slim plot twist padded to feature length. Nichetti himself plays an unfortunate movie technician who spends most of the film collecting sound effects for cartoons; he eventually crosses paths with a jaded working woman who services the kinky (but innocent) fantasies of wealthy perverts, and then he turns into a cartoon. The gimmick is never explained, much less developed (it would be interesting to speculate what the final bedroom frolic must have looked like before Nichetti's animated alter ego was penciled into it), and the blend of live action and animation might have been more exciting if Roger Rabbit had never existed. Elsewhere Nichetti plagiarizes a few sight gags from Jacques Tati, and includes a lot of silly audio effects recalling the interminable swallowed whistle scene in Chaplin's 'City Lights'. His affection for classic silent comedy is admirable, but it just isn't possible anymore to recreate the same sort of charm and humor.