a wasted opportunity

Rating: 5/10 (1 May 2012)

"To Rome with Love" is a less successful movie than "Midnight in Paris", which is a little masterpiece, even though it had a much more ambitious goal.
Stories and characters are enjoyable (apart from Benigni, who in the end is less overacting than usual), but the flaw is in the background. Italy, as it is represented, is neither present Italy nor past, probably more similar to the one represented in the movies of the 50s or 60s .
Woody Allen's movie is a sincere tribute to Rome as seen in the history of cinema. However, this 'golden age' portrait, if compared to the present, seems alienating and little plausible: he might as well have done a costume film...
Some highlights are particularly appreciated though: first of all Alec Baldwin's character, then Penelope Cruz's, the "newly-weds story" (which was sufficient by itself to give a shade of Italian Comedy,)and finally the splendid photography. But on the other hand the movie is filled with a sensation of horror vacui that makes it a bit heavy and prolix (which is uncommon in Woody Allen).
It was a pity. Knowing the outstanding results Mr Allen has achieved in portraying human troubles and tragedies, one is left with the curiosity to know how he would have managed to portray (or allude to) the tragicomic current events that Italian reality abundantly offers.
But he would have needed a deeper look, which is hardly possible when one shoots two movies a year. So, instead of a big fresco portrait, the outcome is a nice little postcard.