fitzcarraldo Blog

I found this film only average. Yes, there's an interesting plotline involving adoption, the search for significance, regret, etc. but I felt that the actors in the film couldn't pull off the emotional depth of their characters...with the exception of Bonnie Hunt, who I felt was the most believable.

Also, I wasn't aware of the film's straightforward depiction of homosexual relationships prior to renting it on Netflix...something some folks might want to know prior to viewing.

Maybe it's me, but the actor who played the adopted son...in the most climactic scene of his personal quest where he finally breaks down...seemed so stilted and unemotional (not very believable) it was hard to feel the pain associated with him...

This film is a quiet film, a bit like Junebug, a bit like the Straight Story in tone and sense of time, and focuses on the relationships. However, I didn't feel that the film went to such anguished depths as a movie like "In the Bedroom"... which I think is a more powerful depiction of parental regret and anguish.

Sarandon and Harper's role as the parents of the runaway son didn't seem to develop fully. They seemed a bit flat.

Overall, it was a decent film that I neither hated nor liked...just seemed average.

From the cover, and initial reviews on Netflix, you'd think this was a more solemn, serious but beautifully shot film set in Venice about unrequited love... more akin to Chocolat or something like that.

However, upon viewing it, it was more of a quirky comedic film, with slightly over-the-top caricatures...in a goofy comedic sort of way. The quirkiness was a bit annoying in the beginning, but the characters do sort of grow on you. I'll admit I wanted to revisit scenes from Venice, and there were a few, but overall I found the film only mildly satisfying. It wasn't a movie of great depth...all the characters seemed to farcical to be believable. Also the art direction on the film wasn't anything to write home about...

But maybe it was just my higher expectations of something more here that left me a bit wanting.

If you want to see this movie, expect something like an Italian light comedy...with shades of Muriel's Wedding, old Pink Panther films, and maybe just a hint of mediocre-Amelie-likeness.