Very well executed

This is How Movies Should Be Made

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This sunny romantic Italian dramatic comedy directed by Fausto Brizzi, was a surprise we found in DVD format, recently. Judging by the great ensemble cast that was gathered for the production, was our guide for getting it, and it sure paid off. Mr. Brizzi has been writing for the Italian cinema for quite some time. It appears he decided to try his hand at directing, with amazing results. It is quite a feat to gather so many of Italy's best actors working in films today and turn a good movie in the process.We are presented with a plausible adult tale involving a few couples that are in some ways interconnected to the story in ways that one could not imagine. Some couples like Luca and Loredana, long married, find themselves in an almost certain divorce. Others like Sergio, the university professor, must deal with the sudden death of his wife. Elisa, the beautiful fiancée of Corrado comes face to face to an old love, Lorenzo, whom she had not seen in many years, only to find out he is the priest that will be performing her wedding.The comedy co-written with Massimiliano Bruno and Marco Martani, has some good moments. Claudio Bisio makes a wonderful Sergio. The gorgeous Claudia Gerini appears as Elisa. Silvio Orlando, one of the best actors working in Italian films today, is Luca. Notably in the cast we found some sons and a daughter of famous actors like Alessandro Gassman, son of Vittorio Gassman. Gianmarco Tognazzi, the son of Ugo Tognazzi and Cecile Cassel, daughter of Jean-Claude Cassel, and sister of Vincent.A fun comedy that is about the best thing in lieu of not being in Italy at the moment!

What a rich movie! Rich by the number of characters, rich by the show of affection and unhappiness with humour, rich by the shortcuts to tell us what's going on (even though the film is literally two hours and the length sometimes causes short sighs by the spectator). Watching the long-distance-relationship couple, I was reminded of a recently-watched movie "Nights and Weekends", but then I thought Ex has a better way to show the complexity as it combines many stories (although it's now boring more than interesting to see the aesthetic touch of those films that pull many private lives as single stories and clash them, push them or make them public around one lovable, profitable theme, while still every story belongs to their private boxes during most of the film). In the movie exists the kind of humour that gets you ready to smile even there's no occasion to; faces of actors are chosen well; it's even been a nice surprise for me to see the surnames Tognazzi and Gassman at the end, and to learn these are the sons of two remarkable names in Italian comedy. But to me the film lost its richness a bit and turned to normal comedies at the very end. Until the last scenes of "many kisses later", the movie was flowing. At the last scenes of couples kissing -except maybe the two lovers who finally get together at the airport-, the act told the spectator: Hey, you're a spectator! Suddenly you're out of the film, which wouldn't be a problem if you never were in. But.. hey, we were in! Maybe the film should have ended when two ex's, the policeman and the doctor, brought together by fate, by the common cause of stalking, looked as a team under the bar lights.

Just saw this movie Saturday night at an Italian film festival. It came out in Feb. 2009 and was nominated for and won several awards. There are numerous interwoven stories, with a talented cast of veteran actors who are perfectly chosen for their parts. Filled with episodes of both roll-on-the-floor hilarity and tears-in-the-eyes poignancy. Best movie of any kind, in any language, that we've seen in the last couple of years. If only it were easier to rent (from Netflix, Blockbuster, etc.) or in general distribution in U.S. theaters! The only way to get a copy that I can find is on Amazon--at $30+ for Region 2 (Europe) DVD! The soundtrack is terrific, too. All in all, a perfectly put together movie. Not sure why the 312 IMDb.com ratings thus far average only 6.3...

The 2009 10th Italian Film Festival (www.italianfilmfestival.com.au) is playing in Australia in Sep and Oct 2009 and this years range of films looks very impressive. Being a lover of romantic comedies and also being a film my wife shortlisted we headed off to a packed screening of "Many Kisses Later" on a cold wet spring afternoon with the film in Italian with English subtitles.The film festival synopsis read - "MANY KISSES LATER follows six couples between Christmas and Valentine's Day - episodes that intertwine and revolve around the matters arising from the end of a love affair and the ways former romantic partners can shape our lives. Some relationships have turned into hatred, others into friendships, for others instead the flame of love is still burning… The film begins with many declarations of love and lots of kisses… But then, does love go on? Did they indeed live happily ever after? The stellar cast includes Claudio Bisio, Silvio Orlando, Nancy Brilli, and Claudia Gerini plus French stars César-winner Malik Zidi (Poison Friends) and Cécile Cassel (sister of Vincent). Brizzi mixes clever social observation, entertaining dialogue, comic situations, a sprinkling of drama, a dash of sex and exotic locations to boot – it's handsome viewing" Handsome? I'd call it very handsome... location wise we have Italy, Paris and Wellington NZ... the scenes perfectly capture each location with localities carefully thread into the plot. Castwise we have a large company of actors and actresses..Claudio Bisio who plays the university lecturer is a fine looking man.... a better looking version of Bruce Willis if that makes sense. Priest Don Leonardo is played by Flavio Insinna a charming good looking Italian actor who to me looks a lot like Patrick Demsey except with Italian charm. Claudia Gerni was delightful as Elisa... she reminded me of English actress/comedienne Sarah Alexander from the BBC TV series "Coupling" and "The Worst week of my life" Some other familiar faces Nancy Brilli in a supporting role as the wife of a couple who don't like their children, want a divorce and whose children want to divorce their parents.. Nancy last seen here in Italian RAI TV mini-series Commesse and Commesse 2 (aka Shopgirls/Shopgirls 2) Silvio Orlando also playing here in a more animated and slightly more youthful role than his role in "Giovanna's Father" seen last week.A whole cast of younger (Claudio Bisio's on screen daughters) and older character actors, a great soundtrack, a plot like a jigsaw puzzle where all the pieces fit.You know a great romantic comedy with some drama thrown in (the course of love is not always smooth and a straight line) by the way it builds and builds to the final release or declaration of all that unresolved tension.Many Kisses Later will not disappoint on this point. It's an engrossing, delightful 120 minute journey that any lover of romantic comedy should love. And like every good/great romantic comedy MKL will stand a lot of repeat viewings and still delight.Small wonder it was this years 2009 Italian box office champion. Very much an Italian equivalent of the Danish "Italian For Beginners". As part of the soundtrack which included James Blunt and a whole host of others on a cold spring day "it may have been winter but it was spring in my heart" Especially after Many Kisses Later. Hats off (again) to RAI International... in this genre they are very hard to beatPostscript... for trailers (video on the menu bar), CD tracks here's a link to the films Italian website http://www.ex-ilfilm.com/..enjoy!