Te lo leggo negli occhi

OK, so we all knew that the stereotypical Italian film has a wee dose of sentimentality, but this is 5 sugars! Some Cinema Paradiso-esquire music and stunning scenery for sure. Nothing wrong with the acting, either. But the worst is this: the plot line is clunkily distorted by the necessities of character development, when mother and daughter remain lengthily separated purely for the purposes of revealing how they react to/relate to a third party (to father and grandmother, respectively). A question of disconnected form and substance. Given that Moretti is the maker of the searingly honest and human 'The Last Customer', I'm disappointed!

This is not a bad movie (considering it a made for TV movie). It's a family drama to be enjoyed on Cable TV late night, as I did. The well known cast is excellent, the views of Rome and Naples are gorgeous, and the dramatic plot, while nothing new, is in the "good to very good" category for European TV movies we see on Cable (currently playing on Cinemax - Latin America).

I think the reason the IMDb rating is so low is that Italians are fed up with this type of formulaic drama. If they aren't they should be. I don't live in Italy but the Italian films we see here in cinemas, DVD, and on Cable (Eurochannel, Cinemax, HBO, RAI) all seem so similar. Some actors, like Stefania Sandrelli, in this film, seem to appear in every other film. The dysfunctional family, illness, and mental health are also ubiquitous, as themes. One confuses all these films in one's minds sometimes, when recalling a specific recent Italian movie. Nevertheless, it may be worth your while to check it out when and if it's on CABLE TV in your area.