Themes: Wedding Bells, Twentysomething Life, Battle of the Sexes
Main Cast: Stefano Accorsi, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Stefania Sandrelli, Marco Cocci, Pierfrancesco Favino
Release Year: 2001
Country: IT
Run Time: 115 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Parenthood stirs up a wealth of mixed emotions in this drama from Italy. Carlo (Stefano Accorsi) and Giulia (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) are a couple in their late twenties who realize they've crossed the final threshold into adulthood when Giulia discovers she's going to have a baby. Even though Carlo has already settled down, he sees parenthood as the first step towards becoming the sort of middle-class suburbanite he's never respected, and he's not happy about it. Carlo's friends are also having mixed feelings about the onset of maturity: Adriano (Giorgio Pasotti) can't decide if he should go through with his marriage to Livia (Sabrina Impacciatore), Paolo (Claudio Santamaria) is trying to find a way out of going into business with his father, and Alberto (Marco Cocci) seems to be waging a one-man war against monogamy by seducing as many women as possible. Meanwhile, Giulia is having her own misgivings about parenthood, and her mother Anna (Stefania Sandrelli) is torn between happiness for her daughter and dread that she's now old enough to be a grandmother; Anna's malaise isn't eased by the lack of compassion shown by her husband (Luigi Diberti). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Shallow, shrill, intermittently entertaining and about a half hour too long, The Last Kiss is a middling film that is neither terrible nor particularly good. The characters and their problems are predictable, their portrayals tend to be too broad, and the film offers little insight into their lives beyond what's already obvious. Perhaps that's why the filmmakers overcompensated with heavy-handed theatrics; you don't have to wait long until someone shouts, bitches, slams a phone, bursts into an office, or otherwise indicates that they're upset. Fortunately, performances such as Giovanna Mezzogionco as Giulia and Stefania Sandrelli as Anna add some poignancy and emotional depth to the film, although Stefano Accorsi's portrayal as Carlo seems somewhat superficial (even beyond the superficiality of the character himself). Unfortunately, the movie doesn't have much to offer besides a few good performances and some quality steadicam work. ~ Todd Kristel, All Movie Guide
