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peterosenau's rating
Failing on the job, Milanese lawyer Furio Bertuccia (Vittorio Gassman) is always open for any funny business to make money. But even he is surprised when the beautiful model Gloria (Pamela Tiffin) visits him late at night, claiming she has murdered her doctor boyfriend and is in need of a lawyer. Turns out the girl is talking nonsense all the time, and there is no murder after all. Half in love, half interested in the heritage the girl mentioned, Furio follows her to Paris, where she tells him another crazy story, this time about a planned murder, the victim: Her rich industrialist boyfriend Roda (Adolfo Celi). Furio is getting introduced into this strange circle and does not realize he might become a scapegoat for a very real murder
As the title says, this movie's screenplay initially had an angel doing justice on earth, but it was heavily re- written, and unfortunately the final down-to-earth plot with slight borrowings in dark comedy and crime leaves something to be desired. The movie doesn't have any real highlights or outstanding scenes. It moves fast enough to avoid boredom, there are a couple of nice running gags (like Furios regular babbling that everybody takes for inapt laughing) and recurring situations (with Furio's sidekick and the police). But the plot itself is rather tame and it takes a long time until Gloria's stories make a little bit of sense.
Luckily, there are other qualities to the movie. The actors are excellent: Gassman shows off his comedian qualities various times. He, Tiffin and Celi work well together and they have some really funny dialogs. There is even an uncredited appearance of soon-to-be superstar Laura Antonelli. And Stelvio Massi's camera work is very lively, full of nice angles and movements.
Overall this is a decent one for friends of old-school comedy. Slight shortcomings in the plot are easily covered by the great actors, so I wasn't disappointed. But clearly there are better Italian comedies out there.
6,5
As the title says, this movie's screenplay initially had an angel doing justice on earth, but it was heavily re- written, and unfortunately the final down-to-earth plot with slight borrowings in dark comedy and crime leaves something to be desired. The movie doesn't have any real highlights or outstanding scenes. It moves fast enough to avoid boredom, there are a couple of nice running gags (like Furios regular babbling that everybody takes for inapt laughing) and recurring situations (with Furio's sidekick and the police). But the plot itself is rather tame and it takes a long time until Gloria's stories make a little bit of sense.
Luckily, there are other qualities to the movie. The actors are excellent: Gassman shows off his comedian qualities various times. He, Tiffin and Celi work well together and they have some really funny dialogs. There is even an uncredited appearance of soon-to-be superstar Laura Antonelli. And Stelvio Massi's camera work is very lively, full of nice angles and movements.
Overall this is a decent one for friends of old-school comedy. Slight shortcomings in the plot are easily covered by the great actors, so I wasn't disappointed. But clearly there are better Italian comedies out there.
6,5
Italian comedian Diego Abatantuono's trademark was his unique way of speaking: A strange southern slang full of puns, grinded words, in a fascinating and funny way of pronunciation. In the early 80ies he celebrated multiple box office successes. Already the title of the 1982 "Viuuulentemente mia" indicates where this comedy is aiming at.
Due to tax fraud, the rich banker Anna (Laura Antonelli) must leave Italy immediately. On the run to the airport, dopey Roman poliziotto Achille (Abatantuono) causes her car to crash, but totally unaware, he even helps her to reach the plane. After resurfacing in Spain, Anna is caught by local police, and Achille heads over to bring her back home. It will be a wild odyssey from Spain to Ibiza, to Corsica and finally to Italy, with the resourceful Anna trying all to gain time and to escape from Achille
This is a quite funny comedy with some adventure elements that can avoid boredom for the most part thanks to its fast pacing and variety of funny situations. It is easy entertainment that doesn't need too much complexity to the characters or to the plot in order to work. The humor is on a reasonable level and avoids cheap gags, at least for the most part. It's clearly geared towards Abatantuono and his extreme verbal acrobatics, which gave me a very hard time and I'm sure I missed a lot of gags. Dubbed versions of his movies are scarce and I have no clue how to localize this adequately.
Laura Antonelli is the elegant and beautiful, but also deceitful counterpart Anna who slowly but surely falls in love with Achille. Next to Abatantuono she doesn't have too much room for development, but the two actually make quite a good couple. An ugly hillbilly cop and a sexy glamor lady - the contrast couldn't be much higher, and that's always what makes things interesting.
Overall, if you like Abatantuono's comedic style, this one is well worth a watch, and native speakers can certainly add one or two points to my rating.
Due to tax fraud, the rich banker Anna (Laura Antonelli) must leave Italy immediately. On the run to the airport, dopey Roman poliziotto Achille (Abatantuono) causes her car to crash, but totally unaware, he even helps her to reach the plane. After resurfacing in Spain, Anna is caught by local police, and Achille heads over to bring her back home. It will be a wild odyssey from Spain to Ibiza, to Corsica and finally to Italy, with the resourceful Anna trying all to gain time and to escape from Achille
This is a quite funny comedy with some adventure elements that can avoid boredom for the most part thanks to its fast pacing and variety of funny situations. It is easy entertainment that doesn't need too much complexity to the characters or to the plot in order to work. The humor is on a reasonable level and avoids cheap gags, at least for the most part. It's clearly geared towards Abatantuono and his extreme verbal acrobatics, which gave me a very hard time and I'm sure I missed a lot of gags. Dubbed versions of his movies are scarce and I have no clue how to localize this adequately.
Laura Antonelli is the elegant and beautiful, but also deceitful counterpart Anna who slowly but surely falls in love with Achille. Next to Abatantuono she doesn't have too much room for development, but the two actually make quite a good couple. An ugly hillbilly cop and a sexy glamor lady - the contrast couldn't be much higher, and that's always what makes things interesting.
Overall, if you like Abatantuono's comedic style, this one is well worth a watch, and native speakers can certainly add one or two points to my rating.
The 1973 comedy classic Malizia" turned Laura Antonelli into a superstar and sex symbol. 18 years later, the sequel "Malizia 2000" killed off her career.
Ignazio and Angela (the ex-housemaid), now married for almost twenty years, have lost the spark in their love life. Ignazio is drooling after his store assistant, while Angela is deeply bored at home. This changes when an archaeologist arrives to conduct an excavation in the caves under the villa. He brings along his fifteen-year-old son Jimmy, who is immediately struck by Angela's mature beauty. But Angela makes it crystal-clear that she is not the right one for him. The pubescent boy just doesn't want to bury his crush so easily. Devious and shy at once, he devises a sinister play with Angela that even includes hurting his father physically. When Angela realizes his intentions, she decides to play along.
What a pointless sequel. As such, it must put up with the direct comparison to "Malizia", and it is a letdown in every aspect. It rips off the general situation and even copies a couple of scenes. But the class distinctions, the social comments – all gone. The sparkling sexual tension – reduced to a minimum. The wonderful visuals and score – forget about it, "Malizia 2000" seems like a cheap TV feature. This is truly shocking since the whole cast and crew is (more or less) the same as in "Malizia", including director and writer Salvatore Samperi. But I just can't get rid of the feeling that probably no one in the artistic and creative department really wanted to do this sequel.
"Malizia 2000" offers a boring story with simple, superficial elements, pieced together without any effect or depth. That Jimmy boy is so purely evil that it's almost ridiculous. To drag out his love letter game with Angela, he creates astonishing traps to hurt his father – in the course of the movie the guy will lose an ear lobe, a forefinger, and will tear open his face because Jimmy placed an extra blade in his razor! I just don't get it – is this supposed to be funny, some attempt at black comedy? Did the old "Malizia" need such crap to create tension? And what does Samperi want to tell us anyway, some comment on the role of mature women, how they see themselves, how they can or should be seen? Rather pointless in such a badly written script, sorry. And I am not even going to discuss the many plot holes and other nonsense surrounding that cave
Speaking of the actors, it's good old Turi Ferro who had my sympathy, even though he's mostly used for cheap comic relief only. Luca "Jimmy" Ceccarelli – just look at his IMDb acting vita, enough said. Probably cast only because he could mix in some English expressions, he's absolutely pathetic. And then Laura Antonelli. 49 years old while shooting this, actually a very attractive lady with the perfect body of a life-long gymnast (there is even a brief side-boob moment). But she is not able to deliver what the screenplay requires. Sad eyes, pale skin, deep wrinkles, she seems to carry unspeakable burdens. In fact she did, this is no acting. The events before, during and after the shooting of this movie are truly infamous, but here is not the place to discuss all this. Let's just say it hurts terribly to see Laura like that.
Overall, "Malizia 2000" completely fails to recreate the "Malizia" formula. The magic is gone. And for Laura Antonelli the curtain falls forever.
Ignazio and Angela (the ex-housemaid), now married for almost twenty years, have lost the spark in their love life. Ignazio is drooling after his store assistant, while Angela is deeply bored at home. This changes when an archaeologist arrives to conduct an excavation in the caves under the villa. He brings along his fifteen-year-old son Jimmy, who is immediately struck by Angela's mature beauty. But Angela makes it crystal-clear that she is not the right one for him. The pubescent boy just doesn't want to bury his crush so easily. Devious and shy at once, he devises a sinister play with Angela that even includes hurting his father physically. When Angela realizes his intentions, she decides to play along.
What a pointless sequel. As such, it must put up with the direct comparison to "Malizia", and it is a letdown in every aspect. It rips off the general situation and even copies a couple of scenes. But the class distinctions, the social comments – all gone. The sparkling sexual tension – reduced to a minimum. The wonderful visuals and score – forget about it, "Malizia 2000" seems like a cheap TV feature. This is truly shocking since the whole cast and crew is (more or less) the same as in "Malizia", including director and writer Salvatore Samperi. But I just can't get rid of the feeling that probably no one in the artistic and creative department really wanted to do this sequel.
"Malizia 2000" offers a boring story with simple, superficial elements, pieced together without any effect or depth. That Jimmy boy is so purely evil that it's almost ridiculous. To drag out his love letter game with Angela, he creates astonishing traps to hurt his father – in the course of the movie the guy will lose an ear lobe, a forefinger, and will tear open his face because Jimmy placed an extra blade in his razor! I just don't get it – is this supposed to be funny, some attempt at black comedy? Did the old "Malizia" need such crap to create tension? And what does Samperi want to tell us anyway, some comment on the role of mature women, how they see themselves, how they can or should be seen? Rather pointless in such a badly written script, sorry. And I am not even going to discuss the many plot holes and other nonsense surrounding that cave
Speaking of the actors, it's good old Turi Ferro who had my sympathy, even though he's mostly used for cheap comic relief only. Luca "Jimmy" Ceccarelli – just look at his IMDb acting vita, enough said. Probably cast only because he could mix in some English expressions, he's absolutely pathetic. And then Laura Antonelli. 49 years old while shooting this, actually a very attractive lady with the perfect body of a life-long gymnast (there is even a brief side-boob moment). But she is not able to deliver what the screenplay requires. Sad eyes, pale skin, deep wrinkles, she seems to carry unspeakable burdens. In fact she did, this is no acting. The events before, during and after the shooting of this movie are truly infamous, but here is not the place to discuss all this. Let's just say it hurts terribly to see Laura like that.
Overall, "Malizia 2000" completely fails to recreate the "Malizia" formula. The magic is gone. And for Laura Antonelli the curtain falls forever.