My Name Is Tanino

A young, clue-free Italian finds and eludes trouble on numerous occasions as he journeys to and through America in director Paolo Virzi's 2001 comedy My Name Is Tanino. Naïve optimist Tanino (Corrado Fortuna) gets romantically involved with an American tourist named Sally (Rachel McAdams), who happens to visit his hometown one fateful summer. After Sally's vacation ends, Tanino decides to follow her to the U.S. -- not realizing that Sally's interest in him ended when her vacation ended. Upon arriving in America... A fantastic journey through an hilarious gallery of American portraits, a eird and funny movie, an amazing mix of comedy, coming of age, on the road... A must to see! Wonderful Rachel Mc Adams (starring in Mean Girls) in the ironic role of a sweet melancolic and sexy wasp Icon!

At a first see, My name is Tanino is a funny, well-directed and well-acted comedy (things that are not at all a given in the recent, mediocre Italian cinematography). But it's also a (extremely light) description of the not always easy relationship between Europe (and, in particular, Italy) and US; I mean the ambivalent view of admiration and suspicion toward each other. And if, to an American viewer, the depiction of the typical WASP family and of the typical italo-American family may be a bit stereotyped, the character of Tanino is quite different from Italians you see in movie and TV-show from the States (like the infamous Paolo from Friends...). My name is Tanino could also be a drive to the foreigner to discover other Virzì's movies, like Ovosodo... I don't know if it was ever subtitled, though.

I am known for hating foreign films, never wanting to give them a chance. But when I visited Italy this summer with my mother and sister, I figured I had to watch a movie there just to say I did. And I am so happy I did! It was the best movie ever! Even though I don't speak Italian, I do speak Spanish so I understood the whole movie pretty much (there were no subtitles). I recommend this movie to EVERYONE!!!!

I'm always a bit lukewarm on these movies where a character makes a bunch of bad choices that lead him on a series of misadventures. It doesn't help when the character is a bit unpleasant like Tanino, as he comes off a bit sleazy and unlikable. I wasn't a fan of the performance from Corrado Fortuna, and there are definitely moments when I just don't care what happens to him. However, I will admit that for a large portion of the film he's not being an actively mean-spirited guy. He tends to act like he doesn't comprehend what's going on around him, and when he's surrounded by the American family that he barely understands it was the best part of the film. The entire movie kind of goes dramatically downhill after that sequence, and ends on a truly lackluster note with his dream director. I admit that there were a handful of moments that made me chuckle, but most of the way through My Name is Tanino didn't do much that I found entertaining.

A young, clue-free Italian finds and eludes trouble on numerous occasions as he journeys to and through America in director Paolo Virzi's 2001 comedy My Name Is Tanino. Naïve optimist Tanino (Corrado Fortuna) gets romantically involved with an American tourist named Sally (Rachel McAdams), who happens to visit his hometown one fateful summer. After Sally's vacation ends, Tanino decides to follow her to the U.S. -- not realizing that Sally's interest in him ended when her vacation ended. Upon arriving in America... A fantastic journey through an hilarious gallery of portraits, a weird and funny movie, an amazing mix of comedy, coming of age, on the road... A must to see! Wonderful Rachel Mc Adams (starring in Mean Girls) in the ironic role of a sweet melancholic and sexy wasp Icon!