Cattivi pensieri

The great Ugo Tognazzi is the director and main actor of an ugly movie that is not comic but highly erotic, at the limit of the hard-core. This can obviously hurt all the spectators expecting a typical Italian comedy as in Tognazzi's tradition. The numerous male and female integral nudes and the explicit sex scenes are offered in a patinated but psychologically disturbed way. Only the solar presence of Edwige Fenech, at the utmost of her extraordinary sex-appeal, smoothes the sick and maniac atmosphere crossing all the movie. The plot is simple: Ugo Tognazzi (Mario Marani) is a lawyer of Milan who is obsessed in thinking to be betrayed by his splendid wife Francesca (Edwige Fenech). After one hundred minutes of evil thoughts, he will have evidence that his wife is faithful, while he is taking the plane together with his secretary and lover (Verushka).

I saw this under the title 'Who Mislaid My Wife?', but the Italian title "Bad Thoughts" makes more sense as the plot revolves around the central character's nightmare fantasies regarding his wife's infidelity. The film could be described as a sex comedy as certain parts of it are clearly played for laughs; but it's not as blatant as some of the other films in this genre and while Italian comedy has gone over my head in the past, I would have to say that this film seems to have a serious side to it. As mentioned, it's the lead character's jealousy that makes up the backbone of the plot. Lawyer Mario Marani is married to the beautiful Francesca Marani. They live the high life amongst other socialites; but their private life is an issue for the husband as he can't help but think his wife is playing away. He continually imagines her in various situations with various men but has no evidence to back up his imagination. That is until he finds a man hiding in the closet inside their home and his jealousies increase further.

Naturally the main reason I saw this film was due to the fact that it stars the beautiful Edwige Fenech. She actually keeps her clothes on for most of this film, which is unfortunate, but her performance is good and the film does at least involve her in several provocative scenes. Ugo Tognazzi (also the film's director) stars alongside Edwige and provides a convincing performance as the jealous husband; while the film also has room for cult star Luc Merenda in a small role. I do have to say that the film is a bit too long and the plot does start to become a bit tiresome in places. The film has a fragmented structure and often skips from one place to the next, which can become a bit confusing at times also. Still, there's usually enough to keep interest high (Edwige Fenech is usually enough on her own!) and the film is constantly amusing. We do get some ironic shocks at the end which are quite funny too. Overall, I wouldn't recommend anyone goes out of their way to see this film (with the exception of die hard Edwige Fenech fans!) but if you do manage to find a copy, it is at least worth seeing.

Ugo Tognazzi is a lawyer whose flight to New York is canceled due to extreme fog and he goes back to his house, only to find a man hidden in the closet while his wife appears to be sleeping. Actually, he just sees the man's feet but he doesn't bother to find out who he is (if he did, this whole cockamamie story would be over before it started); he locks the room, goes back to bed with his wife as if nothing had happened and spends the rest of the movie fantasizing about whom the guilty party might be, while in real life each and every one of his "suspects" turn out to have solid alibis. Admittedly, I saw a poorly dubbed version of this movie, titled "Who MisLaid My Wife?", so perhaps something has been lost in the translation. What does come through, however, is a dismal, monotonous "comedy", with alternately ridiculous and tasteless (and sometimes both) fantasy sequences. Edwige Fenech looks GORGEOUS in this film, but her role is very demeaning; she is continuously insulted, publicly embarrassed and, at one point, nearly raped. As for her nudity, it is limited to those fantasy scenes, and it is rarely arousing. (*1/2)

A lawyer finds his wife's lover and locks him in a room but cannot see his face. He spends the next few days trying to figure out who he is but his suspicions all have an alibi. I don't know whether to call it a poor drama or a very slow thriller but it's certainly not a comedy as it is said in the description.

it is a real strange film if you expect a nice Italian comedy using the old recipes. because the humour is heavy and the fears / obsessions of Ugo Tognazi character are far to be amusing or comfortable. the large use of explicit erotic scenes are , maybe, not the most inspired option for a film about trust, vulnerabilities, marriage and a sort of cruelty . the only good thing is the performance of Edwige Fenech , who saves a film about a neurotic/paranoid advocate and his long trip. the worst part- the end. fake, melodramatic, proposing a moral lesson after a confuse run across hypothesis and clichés.