Johnny Stecchino

I first saw this movie several years ago as a "movie of the week"...what a joy! I had the film specially ordered and to date have watched it at LEAST a dozen times...I cannot get enough of this charming film! Roberto Benigni and his wife, Nicoletta Braschi are the perfect team. And the co-stars are just as fabulous...this is definitely a team effort! Most highly recommended!

7/10

I thoroughly recommend this film. Some jokes may go over the head of non-Italian speakers but it shouldn't really ruin your enjoyment of a classic Benigni film. My favourite scene was when "lo zio" (the uncle) was driving Dante back from Palermo train station and explaining the problems of Sicilian life to him - I nearly p*****d myself!

I think I learned Italian from this movie, I watched it so many times.

I've simply never loved a movie as so cute and funny as this, its well worth tracking it down, Its still pretty available if you know the right places to look.

Roberto and Nicoletta are perfect together on and off screen, truly a mating of Eagles as the Romans would say.

take the perfect vaudeville act, Where you have some idiot who is just a heart of Gold, mix in a scheming Mafia donna, take a bunch of Italians in good suits add a little illegal narcotics done by politicans.

Steal a banana or two, and then change places with a murderous Cut throat assasino. What do you get? Superb cinema.

Roberto Benigni, who went to achieve international stardom with "Life Is Beautiful," plays two roles in this comedy. The story is about an innocent man who is dead ringer for a gangster-informant-in hiding. Benigni plays both roles.

It's a decent movie, a low-key comedy that has some funny moments but would have been much better had it been chopped down about 15 minutes. It tends to drag a bit during the second half. Benigni, as the "wimp," is a very charming guy and one that's easy to root for, but the rest of the characters in the film are just so-so. It's odd to ever see the usually high-strung Benigni as a lower-key person.

Surprisingly, this is an "R" rated comedy, and that's because of the language. I rented this once, but would see it again, especially since it''s now available on DVD.

The genius with which Benigni weaves plots is most clearly displayed in this film. Nothing in the film is left to chance. Every scene, every action is (eventually) connected to others in a hilarious web. I've seen this movie 6 or 7 times. My wife wants to rent it again! and I will watch it for the 7th or 8th, having fun and marveling at the intricacies of the plot.

An early episode is a silly parlor game called "the cabinet member's wife." What is that about? What's funny about that. It isn't, but the game returns about three-quarters of the way through with surprising twists.

People who don't watch foreign films because they don't like reading subtitles are missing a world of great films, and this is one of the best.