a most "Hollywood" foreign language film

Rating: 2/10 (11 November 1999)

I had to fast forward many times while watching this movie. It is packed with the worst Hollywood stereotypes (including its soundtrack) and generally belongs to the same category as the numerous "Titanics" that try (and succeed) to impress their sentimental audience. No wonder it won its Academy Awards. No wonder it had such a huge success among the folks that generally don't watch foreign language movies. I'm not a big fan of Benigni. Although he was good in Jarmusch's movies, he's no Chaplin. A couple of scenes in Life is Beautiful are funny though, and for this only reason I give it 3 out of 10