Santa Maradona

oh what a terrible movie... It looks like the screenwriter/directed was locked in a room with a copy of Clerks and a copy of Chasing Amy and left there to rot for five years. Derivative, manipulative, full of wannabe "witty" dialogue that's absolutely stupid and pointless (with more of a hint of homophobia)... it was clearly made just because the male lead Stefano Accorsi (already a display of acting mannerism) helped pitching the script. A perfect example of why italian film industry is getting shoddier and shoddier.

It was a hot summer night when I first saw the movie, and straight from get go the Italian atmosphere displayed so prominently in this movie just sucked me in.

All the actors in the movie have excellent charisma and presence on screen which is aided by the chemistry between them all. You really feel like you are watching every day life people having a good time rather than a scripted movie. Anita Caprioli is absolutely stunning in this film, from the first scene that she is in you can't stop looking from her.

Now for the not so good. As many users before me mentioned this movie deals with some major issues in the Italian life, such as unemployment for the younger generation. Andrea keeps looking for work and keeps getting rejected while Bart has given up altogether and settles for some street philosophy and bumming around. Aside from that the story slows down towards the end, after Adrea dumps Dolores, and the movie doesn't really recover from there. Most of the fun in this movie was watching the relationship develop, and when that disappears and the missing housemate comes back the story just gets ridiculous to the point where the whole feel of the movie is disturbed and feels as though a different director took over.

To finish this all off, I still enjoyed this movie immensely, particularly because of the chemistry of the leads and if you have a chance sit down and give this movie a shot. Won't be disappointed

I just came across this movie by accident. Switched through the channels and got sucked in by "Santa Maradona". The thing that grabbed my intention first was the story of the two main characters: aimless, jobless, clueless. Sounds familiar. Stefano Accorsi and Libero De Rienzo are wonderful in the leading roles. The conversations are totally true to life and kind of intriguing, if pointless. Imagine the characters of "Before Sunrise" minus all the romantic feelings and dreams and you get an idea of the dialog in this movie. The story is rather anti-climatic until the movie suddenly ends and that is a bit of a flaw. On the other hand, it's just further proof that this movie was intended to be as realistic as possible. Life is like that for people like Andrea and Bart. No big happy ending, no dramatic development, just a long monotonous chain of meaningless events. Yep, if you're looking for something gaudier watch "Reality Bites", but don't think that that movie has anything to do with reality.

I wish many of you will get the chance to see this movie. Why? 'Cause it's about a generation (mine...i was born in 1974) with very few things known for sure, full of doubts, asking for much and getting very little. Because it's been shot in my own town, Torino, in Italy: a wonderful city not yet appreciated as it should be, and here, in the movie, elegantly and properly photographed and shown. Because the story is brilliantly told, because the characters are as real as they can be in a movie. Because it's funny but not stupid. Because, though not flawless, it's a good movie, modern enough in its layout and accurate enough in the way it's written to be enjoyed by a wide (not decerebrate) audience.

While not a great social commentary, the playful portrayal of tension between the 4 protagonists makes it fun to watch. Andrea is purposefully like many other Italian young adults, living the fact of unemployment and getting no where even when he tries; his chance (too forced?) meeting with Dolores is a distraction and test of his commitment to growing up. His room mate and other friends also help drag him down. Can he break out?

It's also refreshing to find the true-to-life non resolution of relationships; it's use of language is also street real.