C'era un cinese in coma

"C'era un cinese in coma" is reminiscent of Verdone's 1996 film "Sono pazzo di Iris Blonde" in that both have as their plot Verdone the show business pro guiding his young discovery on the road to fame and fortune, eventually eclipsing Verdone's capacity to control the situation. The co-star in this movie is male however, unlike the love-interest-with-a-younger-woman theme in most of Verdone's films.

When Ercole Preziosi (Verdone) discovers that his driver, Niki Renda, has a natural talent for "sexy comedy", he puts him on the stage. How will Niki deal with his instant celebrity status? How will it affect Ercole and Niki's friendship and Ercole's family relationships?

The title of the film refers to a joke, mentioned continually throughout the film. For the punch line, you'll have to wait patiently until the end.

`C'era un cinese in coma' is the proof, if one was needed, that Carlo Verdone has lost his way. Verdone is a genius. But a genius lost. After making some of the funniest comedies in Italian cinema history, the Roman movie maker started to stray. His desire to depart the jovial and thoughtless comedies, in favour of more serious and thoughtful movies, was just too strong. He had to disappoint million of fans just to please a few movie critics. Anyway back to the movie. Overall is not too bad. One will laugh at the slapstick bits (I roared with laughter at scene were Verdone and his protégé are robbed by two female thieves) and yawn at the preposterous serious parts. Had the movie been made by an up and coming director, it would have been very nice indeed. But coming from Verdone is yet another major disappointment (after the disastrous `maledetto il giorno che ti ho incontrato and `perdiamoci di vista'). Why does he have to try and explore areas of film making that are so alien to his background? There are scenes of a sexual nature (sex in a Verdone movie!) which clearly are filmed in an embarrassed and clumsy manner. There are scenes of high drama that disastrously made me laugh more than the laughable bits. Beppe Fiorello is wooden to say the least. The young actor has the command of two (!) expressions, happy and unhappy. I understand that Verdone wanted to cash in on the success that Fiorello had had on Italian television just prior to the start of shooting. But a more vigorous direction would have been better for the movie and for the budding actor career. I was very disappointed by this movie and would only recommend it to somebody that has never seen Verdone at his best.