Pour l'amour de Roseanna

"For Roseanna" is a wonderfully sweet romantic comedy about a loving husband and his devotion to his dying wife. The film is full of charismatic performances, but Jean Reno steals the show by a narrow margin. Mercedes Ruehl is also warm and lovely in the title role. For a story so focused on the subject of death, the character of Marcello is the embodiment of vitality, and his various efforts to keep his fellow townsmen alive so they don't take up the last graves in the village cemetery are hilarious. Having seen Reno more typically in dramatic roles in movies such as "The Professional," "Mission: Impossible," and "Ronin," I was impressed with the very gifted comic range that he demonstrates here. With very fine talented supporting performances from Polly Walker, Trevor Peacock, Renato Scarpa, Roberto Della Casa, and Mark Frankel (tragically, his final performance), this is a little jewel of a movie. Don't miss it.

I absolutely loved this film. It's an unpromising subject - a man with a dying wife - but the excellent Jean Reno gives such a compelling performance that you cannot help but be sucked into the story. It is funny, moving, wonderful, beautifully acted and superbly filmed. And best of all it is good, clean entertainnment. Director Paul Weiland is sufficiently confident in his cast, his screenplay and his abilities that the story is allowed to take centre stage. There is nothing gratuitous, nothing formulaic about it Roseanna's Grave, it is a film of the old school: honest and genuinely entertaining.

"For Roseanna", as it was titled on cable, tells of an Italian wife (Ruehl) with a bad heart and a husband of 20 years (Reno) who's determined to see she is buried with her daughter in a cemetery with only three graves left by making sure the townsfolk of his Italian village do not die. A comedy and light drama, "Roseanna" is a sweetly sentimental film with a simple but entertaining story for patient people set in the lush rustic beauty of the Italian countryside. No blockbuster but quaintly enjoyable, "Roseanna" is a charming little film with four plots.

This film is one of those wonderful hidden gems that restore your faith in both film making and storytelling.The opening premise is that a mans'wife is soon to die from an incurable disease and that her last wish is to be buried in the village church graveyard. Unfortunately there is just one plot left!

Naturally there are a number of other villagers even closer to deaths' door.The husband, Marcello,is brilliantly played by Jean Reno. He delivers a virtuoso performance which carries the film dashing around saving the lives of other villagers in order that his wife can secure the last plot! Part romantic comedy, part farce, part love story, part tragedy, this superbly crafted tale had me laughing and holding back a tear in equal measure.

The farce scenes rival Feydeau at his best in the likes of 'Hotel Paradiso', slapstick with style. Yet Reno as Marcelo, ably assisted by his comic "sraight" partner, Mercedes Ruehl as his wife Roseanna, also produces a pathos for the tragic circumstances which underscore his credentials as a very fine actor.Unmissable. A real treat.

Roseanna's Grave begins with a trapeze artist walking a tight-rope in the middle of an Italian city. The clown falls and dies. He takes his place in the overpopulated graveyard. Now there is only one grave left. Jean Reno's sick wife wants that grave. He can't let anyone die. This film is a comedy?

And what a comedy. Jean Reno gives a sweet performance as the loving husband attempting to keep everyone in the town from harm. The length that he goes to, to honour his wife's wishes is remarkable. He convinces the family of a man in a coma that he is still alive when the doctors tell them he has no chance, he even kills a man by accident but hides the body.

This is a love story and the chemistry between Ruehl and Reno is refreshing. Ruehl is remarkable as the dying spouse. She hopes for her sister and her husband to get together but they don't like each other at all. It all builds up to a tragic outcome but the ending is a surprise, a wonderful surprise to a wonderful movie!