Review by paolobutera-482-260687

Let me start by saying this is the first and only movie I've ever asked my money back for. I live in Palermo, I consider myself "knowledgeable about it", I know the little nuisances that Palermitans have and had in the past, but I'm not a Palermitan. I've "seen", "studied" and "understood" their gestural expressiveness, accent and their dialect. This movie completely destroys these details which make Palermitans, some of the most expressive (both in dramatic and comedy) people in Italy. The photography of the film is the only "attempt" to reality and the only feature worth mentioning. Toni Servillo (one of the best Italian actors after movies like Il Divo, Gomorra and roles like Gorbaciov-not Mikail-and many WONDERFUL other) was unprepared for this role. His dialect a mixture of Napoletan/Palermitan/Milanese made him lose credibility as a character, his overly exaggerated gestural expressiveness made him look like an "idiot". The rest of the cast was left on the sidelines, although having amazing potential. Lastly the fact that the movie was shot in Puglia and not Sicily, and especially not Palermo, makes me believe that the director was deliberately trying to demolish (not diminish, but DEMOLISH) the image of his native city.