That's amore?
The Last Kiss is a chick flick – for men
REVIEW
THE LAST KISS
Starring Stefano Accora, Giovanna Mezzogiormo and Stefania Sandrelli
Written and directed by Gabriele Muccino
Opens Friday, September 6
Uptown Screen
Writer-director Gabriele Muccino has only recently surfaced in cinema, having debuted two years ago with But Forever on My Mind, an Italian farce that never really took root on North American soil. With his second foray into filmmaking, L’Ultimo bacio (The Last Kiss), all that has changed. The Last Kiss has already garnered several Italian awards and was this year’s audience pick for World Film at Sundance.
Muccino, you see, has the gift of romantic comedy – a rare gift indeed, considering the usual offerings we see. Forget big fat Greek weddings, this one opens with the mother of all weddings – the Italian kind. Only this time, it creates the recipe for, well, divorce.
The film’s main storyline revolves around Carlo (Stefano Accora) and his girlfriend Giulia (Giovanna Mezzogiormo), who announces she is pregnant. In Muccino’s world, the average male does not experience coming-of-age until 30, so before becoming a papa, Carlo panics and has an affair with the 18-year-old Francesca, an Italian version of Britney Spears. Giulia, trying to prevent her own mother (Stefania Sandrelli) from divorcing her father, is too busy to notice any of this.
As Carlo chases Francesca, he takes refuge with his three buddies, who provide little comfort as they grapple with their own maturity. The men bond nightly at a waterfall, where they bungee jump over the bridge or pop open some champagne and scream about how turning 30 has killed their youth. It is here where Muccino creates a refreshing take on romantic comedy – through the eyes of four immature men.
The Last Kiss is bit darker than it first appears, making the stretch from light comedy to a drama that too often imposes its morality. If this film were American, it would probably be more like a John Hughes film than The Big Chill – if, of course, the Brat Pack were 30 and Italian. Fortunately, Muccino provides enough fast-paced text and fancy camera work to distract us from otherwise light fare, with a great music score by Paolo Buonvino that matches the film’s rhythm. And make no mistake – this one moves fast, in pure Italian style.
From the opening scene these characters love each other, hate each other and shout at each other enough to make any Italian mother proud. In fact, the dialogue moves so fast that at one point the film’s subtitles actually begin to flash too quickly to read. Muccino occasionally slows things down long enough to remind us that this is a mainly performance-driven film with a strong ensemble cast.
As Carlo’s mother-in-law, Anna, Sandrelli (Stealing Beauty) is the real scene-stealer, providing much of the film’s comic relief in her hopeless efforts to have an affair. Muccino spends a lot of time on Anna’s midlife crisis, a sort of parallel to Carlo’s own coming-of-age. Unlike most twentysomething fables, this one digs a little deeper, exploring how all human beings of all ages tend to long for what they don’t have.
We can expect more from Muccino when he directs the upcoming Never Forget Me, and while he has yet to perfect his recipe for romantic comedy, The Last Kiss has some promising ingredients. |
