A film of astonishing grace, beauty, elegance, wit, and charm.

Rating: 10/10 (11 January 2017)

I do not think it is possible I could have liked this film any more than I did. I was watching it for the second time. The first time I loved it. But, I did not understand what a masterpiece it was. It is absolutely pitch perfect. The direction of the film is stunning. Hollywood should take notice. Few films come out of Hollywood like this lovely gem. This was entirely directed and produced by Italians. It has a magical realist quality to it, and some of the cinematography was positively mind boggling. If you look at some of my other reviews, I am often tearing films apart. Most of the stuff that comes out of Hollywood these days leave me cold and unsatisfied.
However, this film was written and shot for adults. I do not think the current crop of kids, that is fueling the boom in nonsensical action films, and comic reboots would get this film at all. Way, way too refined. Too much character development. Not enough action for the kiddies.
There are some great scenes of the writers on Kietel's film, where they are brainstorming the script of the film they are writing. It is a wonderful irony, as the script of this film is a thing of beauty.
This film centers around the characters of Michael Caine, and Harvey Kietel. Both very successful men. Caine a retired composer, and Kietel a movie director, nearing the end of his career. Wryly observing them closely, and striking up a friendship with Fred, is a movie star played by Paul Dano. The younger man is debating whether to escape his burdensome identification with a robot character in a sci-fi franchise with a drastic change of pace by playing Adolf Hitler in a movie. There is a wonderful scene where Miss Universe shows up and pays her respect to the Dano character. The dialogue is not at all what one would expect. Then Fred gets a visit from his disaffected daughter and personal assistant (Rachel Weisz). She's here to announce that her husband, Mick's feckless son (Ed Stoppard), has just dumped her for real-life rock star Paloma Faith, playing a parody of herself that stars like Mylie Cyrus, Brittany Spears, and many others would never be capable of.
As in Sorrentino's 2013 foreign-language Oscar winner "The Great Beauty," the plot is less important than the characters and the opulent settings, which are populated with eccentric, magical characters in the background. This is a movie for adults. And this movie is a masterpiece. A simply stunning bit of filmmaking. Watch it with patience. Watch it with adoration. Watch it with respect. Watch it and yearn for the days when films of this caliber were more common.