To Rome with Love

Plot synopsis:
To Rome with Love follows four different concurrent but unrelated plotlines taking place in the Eternal City.American tourist Hayley falls in love and becomes engaged to Italian pro bono lawyer Michelangelo while spending a summer in Rome. Her parents, Jerry and Phyllis, fly to Italy to meet her fiancé and his parents. Jerry happens to hear Giancarlos (Michelangelo's father) beautiful operatic voice while the latter sings in the shower. As a former admittedly avant-garde and critically reviled opera director, Jerry feels inspired to bring Giancarlos gift to the public. Although Giancarlo protests that he sings for himself and doesnt want to go professional, Jerry pushes the issue until Giancarlo agrees to audition in front of a room of opera bigwigs. Outside the safety of his shower, Giancarlos confidence abandons him. He makes faces and he is humiliated. Michelangelo, who attended the audition too, accuses Jerry of using his father to achieve some level of fame for himself. It occurs to Jerry that Giancarlo, like most people, sings the most confidently when he has some measure of privacy. In Giancarlos case, he performs best in his shower. Giancarlo, naked but for a towel, premieres at the Teatro dellOpera di Roma. Jerry has built him a shower onstage, and Giancarlo sings as he washes. The opera attendees love his strange performance, so Jerry and Giancarlo decide to stage Pagliacci, shower and all. Again, Giancarlos rich voice mesmerizes the crowd, and he receives rave reviews though Jerry's direction is once again utterly reviled, a fact he is not aware of since he doesn't understand Italian. Giancarlo decides to retire from opera singing, because he prefers working as a mortician and spending time with his family though he appreciates being given the chance to live his dream of performing Pagliacci.Newlyweds Antonio and Milly move from their rustic hometown to Rome because Antonios posh uncles have offered him a job in their familys business. The couple check into their hotel, and Milly decides to pop down to the salon to fix her hair. When the concierge informs her that theres no available appointments, Milly decides to go to a nearby salon but becomes hopelessly lost. When she attempts to answer a call from Antonio, she accidentally drops her phone through the slats of a sewer grate. Defeated, Milly eventually sits down on the edge of a fountain. When she looks up she sees one of her favorite actresses, Pia Fusari, about to shoot a scene. Pia invites Milly to watch her film, and Milly becomes even more excited when she learns her celebrity crush Luca Salta is also in the film. After the scene wraps, Pia introduces Milly to Luca, who invites Milly out to lunch with him.Meanwhile, Antonio is back at their hotel. Hes desperate to find Milly, because his relatives will soon arrive to take them out to lunch. Someone knocks at the door, and, thinking that Milly has returned, he rushes to answer it in his underwear. Anna, a prostitute, bursts into his room. She has mistaken him for a client, and she refuses to leave until they have sex. Anna wrestles Antonio to the bed, but his relatives interrupt them before anything untoward happens. His uncles mistake Anna for Milly, and when it becomes too complicated to explain the truth, Antonio goes along with the ruse. He convinces Anna to pretend shes Milly for the afternoon. Eventually the group dines at the same restaurant that Luca takes Milly. Antonio seethes with jealousy as Luca flirts with Milly. Lastly, Antonios uncles and aunts take him to a fancy party so he can meet important Italian dignitaries. Antonio has nothing in common with the men his uncles introduce him to; coincidentally, most of the male guests are Annas clients. Anna and Antonio go for a walk in the garden, and Antonio talks about how pure and good Milly is. When Anna finds out he was a virgin before he met Milly, she seduces him in the bushes.Luca brings Milly to his hotel room. He also tries to seduce her. Luca complements Milly's charm, but she doesnt know if she can cheat on Antonio. She goes into the bathroom to get some perspective, and she ultimately decides to have sex with Luca. As Milly strips, a man with a gun jumps out of the shower. He takes Milly into the bedroom and demands that she and Luca give him their money and their jewelry. Suddenly, Lucas wife and her private investigator begin banging on the hotel rooms door. Mrs. Salta wants photographic proof of her husbands indiscretions, and the prospect of divorce frightens Luca more than the burglar. Milly and the burglar climb into bed and fool Mrs. Salta into believing the hotel room is theirs while Luca hides in the bathroom. Once his wife has left, Luca runs off, and the burglar begins flirting with Milly. She has sex with him instead. When she returns to the hotel room, she and Antonio decide to return to their rustic hometown. Their love life has been reinvigorated.Leopoldo lives a mundane life with his wife and two children. The best part of his day is watching his bosss beautiful secretary Serafina walk around the office. Inexplicably, he wakes up one morning to discover that he has become a national celebrity. Paparazzi document his every movement. Reporters ask him what hes had for breakfast, if he wears boxers or briefs, whether he thinks it will rain. Leopoldo even becomes a manager at his company, and Serafina sleeps with him. He begins dating models and attending fancy film premieres. The constant attention wears on him, though. One day, in the middle of interviewing Leopoldo, the paparazzi spot a man who looks more interesting, and they abandon Leopoldo. At first, Leopoldo welcomes the return to his old life. But one afternoon he breaks down when no one asks for his autograph. Leopoldo has learned that life can be monotonous and wearying whether one is a celebrity or a normal man. Still, its much better to be a weary celebrity than it is to be a weary regular man.John, a well-known architect, and his wife are visiting Rome with friends. John lived there some thirty years ago, and hed rather check out his old haunts than go sightseeing with the others. John meets Jack, an American architecture student, while hes looking for his old apartment building. Jack happens to live there and invites John up to the apartment he shares with his girlfriend Sally. Sally tells Jack that she invited her best friend Monica to stay with them while she recovers from a rough breakup. According to Sally, Monica gives off a sexual vibe that drives men crazy. John predicts Monica will bring trouble, but Jack cant imagine why he would be attracted to his girlfriends best friend. Monica arrives, and one of her first conversations with Jack is about her intense sexual relationship with a lingerie model. Because Sally has classes, she often asks Jack to show Monica around Rome. Monica impresses Jack with her knowledge of literature and art. Meanwhile, John keeps telling Jack that Monica will lead him to trouble and criticizes her pseudo-intellectual facade (these interjections always appear surrealistic, implying that John is somehow Jack's conscience personified).Even though John cautions Jack against cheating with Monica, he cannot help but succumb to her charms. Sally sets Monica up with one of their friends, and Jack is jealous of their relationship. One night he and Monica decide to cook dinner for Sally and her boyfriend. They flirt more and more until Jack summons the courage to kiss Monica. She returns his passion, and they go down to his car to have sex. The next morning, they decide Jack should wait until Sally finishes her midterms for Jack to break up with her. The trio go out for lunch after Sallys finals, and when theyre alone Jack tells Monica he plans to dump her that night. They make plans to travel to Greece and Sicily together. Suddenly, Monica, an actress, receives a phone call from her agent. She can barely contain her excitement as she tells Jack that shes been offered a role in a Hollywood blockbuster. She will film in Los Angeles and Tokyo for the next four months. At the drop of a hat, Monica becomes completely focused on preparing for the role. She forgets about traveling with Jack, and he realizes how shallow she is. John and Jack walk back to the Roman street corner where they met and part ways forever.

Tags: comedy, humor, entertaining, romantic, clever

Review:
Then Jack meets Monica (Ellen Page) who is his girlfriend's best friend and is the object of all men's fantasies.Page also gets to play the role of the self-obsessed, pseudo-intellectual — commonly referred to as "the pedantic one" in most Woody Allen movies.
The cast is charming and I want to highlight a sincere Roberto Benigni; Jesse Eisenberg, that resembles perfectly the young Woody Allen; and the beautiful and talented Ellen Page, with a powerful character that makes you impossible not to fall in love with her.I have the huge bias of been a Woody Allen fan and that is probably why I enjoyed so much this movie.
"To Rome with Love" is a romantic movie by Woody Allen with four independent stories of love, adultery and dreams in the Eternal City.
The most curious is that the stories are not entwined like usually happens in this type of movie.The story of the caretaker that can only sing operas in the shower is sarcastic, with the typical humor of Woody Allen that performs a neurotic and insecure character.
Although nowhere near Woody Allen's great films like Annie Hall, Manhattan, Hannah and her Sisters and Midnight in Paris, To Rome with Love is still a charming, and entertaining film.
It should be rubber-stamped "Return to Sender." This is undoubtedly the most disappointing of all his films set in Europe.Following a lifetime spent channeling New York's neurotic side, creating some of the most memorable roles in modern film history (Annie Hall, Leonard Zelig, Danny Rose, and of course – Allen himself), the 76-year-old film legend abruptly departed his familiar Manhattan backdrop in 2004, taking his introspective wit across the Atlantic, initially to London, then Barcelona, followed by Paris, and now Rome.His latest release To Rome with Love has all the ingredients of yet another tasty Allen stew.
The always reliable Alec Baldwin, perfectly cast as the debonair know-it-all, oddly provides a voice of reason during Eisenberg's degenerative courtship, hoping to stop his protégé from making a complete fool of himself.The final story seems both camp and patronizing, cookie-cutting arguably the only Italian actor widely recognizable to American audiences (Roberto Benigni -- Life is Beautiful) as the warm roasting chestnut to provide some wildly-exaggerated depiction of the "average" Italian.
To Rome with Love is another "Woody's European City Tour" that follows London, Barcelona and of course Paris, and with Rome he pays tribute by doing one of those Italian anthology comedies (I haven't seen a lot of them frankly, but I'm thinking like back in the 60's with Boccaccio 62), and there are four stories that Woody could also have made individual films.
Alec Baldwin plays a guy who, I think, looks back on his younger self as an impressionable architect (Jesse Eisenberg, very Woody-esque surrogate, but plays his own strengths well as well) who has a new romantic interest in the super-neurotic actress Ellen Page plays (a different turn for her that I had fun watching, though intentionally annoying as a character).
"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.
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.
In this movie Allen does for Rome what he has already done for New York and Paris--transformed the city into a magical kingdom where anything is possible.The film doesn't have one plot, it has four.
It doesn't have one star, it has about a dozen.The four plots involve a young small-town Italian couple who arrive in Rome right after their marriage; a retired opera director (Allen) and his wife who come to Rome to join their daughter, who has fallen in love with a young Italian lawyer; a famous architect (Alec Baldwin) who interposes himself into the life of a young U.S. architecture student living in Rome; and an ordinary citizen (Roberto Benigni) who overnight inexplicably finds himself a major celebrity.Things I learned about Woody Allen from this film: he hasn't lost his touch as a director; he hasn't lost his touch as an actor, as long as he can play Woody Allen; he hasn't lost the ability to write some of the funniest lines you'll ever hear in a movie.Other things I learned: filling a movie with beautiful women--Ellen Page, Alessandra Mastronardi, Penélope Cruz--is generally a very good idea; Penélope Cruz was born to play an extremely sought-after high-class prostitute.
We have seen Woody Allen's multiple love letters to New York City, London, Barcelona, and Paris; now he sets his satirical eye on the ancient city of Rome.
In To Rome with Love, Woody is even less subtle about his intentions by loudly proclaiming in the film's title what he is up to.There are multiple stories entering and exiting the stage with even more characters; however, unlike the majority of films which juggle numerous plot lines, these do not intersect; they exist by themselves and involve their own unique Roman characteristics.
There is John (Alec Baldwin) who chooses to retrace his former life as a young man in Rome 30 years ago and ends up having a very interesting encounter with Jack (Jesse Eisenberg), Sally (Greta Gerwig), and the flippant Monica (Ellen Page).
This particular part of the film does not work too well but it does provide plenty of laughs as inappropriately clad Anna visits the Vatican.To Rome with Love is not among the top tier of Woody Allen's decade long infatuation with filming in European locales (Midnight in Paris) but it is certainly not the worst (Scoop).
My brain doesn't fit the usual id-ego-superego model!"Phyllis (Judy Davis): "No, you have the only brain with three ids."Yesterday I watched with my kids To Rome With Love, by the genius Woody Allen, for the 100th time.
This time he tells 4 stories, all amusing and imaginative.I love that Woody is in the movie, accompanied by the great and beautiful Judy Davis.
Woody Allen has written, directed, acted and produced an all star cast with Alec Baldwin, Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page, Judy Davis and Allison Pill in the cast.
'To Rome With Love' is a clichéd Woody Allen piece with his hackneyed signatures like multi-layered love stories, couples that came together due to accidents and a babbling, irritating Woody Allen in whichever boring roles he wrote for himself - that last bit has not changed a bit since Annie Hall and man, that was over 30 years ago.While the film has moments of brilliance, the odd but banal plot does not save the day: Alec Baldwin's part was cheesy and awkward, and one wonders why his younger companions were not annoyed by his presence; what happened to Benigni was left unexplained - in a way it needs no explanation but it sounds ridiculous from the beginning - leaving one feeling somewhat disconnected to the story.
I left the theater feeling I had undergone a social experiment by someone who wanted to see, after the success of "Midnight in Paris", if someone would stand up and shout "The king is naked!".Of the 4 parallel story lines only 1 was somewhat watchable and that's because of Alec Baldwin, and even that storyline started so incoherently that it was hard to enjoy it for the rest of the movie..
There are a few laughs along the way, but Allen spreads himself so thin that he is unable to provide his universe with any depth or reality and tries to get by on the audience's familiarity with his work and the faded idea that whatever he puts on screen represents quality.The most successful episode features Alec Baldwin as a world-weary architect who makes a sentimental journey to the street he lived on as a student and encounters young Jesse Eisenberg now in residence and living out a romantic entanglement that Baldwin pops in and out of to provide jaded insight.
And Allen himself makes an appearance as a frustrated opera director who discovers a major talent who can only show off his gifts in the shower, in yet another one-joke misfire.It is sad that after a long stretch of sub-par work and redeeming himself with some quality films like "Midnight in Paris" and "Match Point" that Allen is content to present a lazy effort like "To Rome with Love" which is so derivative of his "early, funny films" without any of the freshness or inventiveness.
Woody Allen's latest film, "To Rome With Love", may be a companion piece to his wonderful "Midnight in Paris", having a style and approach similar to the earlier Oscar-winner.
This film is not recommended.In Woody Allen 44th movie, aptly titled To Rome with Love, four stories try to become one whole film, with sporadic success.
It's as if the director was at odds with the writer and neither would compromise their own point of view, sacrificing the final product.After his witty and highly entertaining Oscar-winning film, Midnight in Paris, the Woodsman sets sail to another European location to create cinematic situations that deal with fame, infidelity, young love, unbridled passion, past regrets, and any flaw that makes us human.
Woody Allen also has a role in this film as Hayley's father who comes to meet Michelangelo's family.Each one of the stories work really well in my opinion although I did laugh a little harder with Roberto Benigni's scenes which remind us all of the perks of being a celebrity, as well as the disadvantages (the overly exaggerated media attention).
Not amongst Woody Allen's finest works but still exhibiting some charm, fun & delight of an Allen film, To Rome with Love is a collection of four story lines that are totally unrelated to each other that deals with themes of adultery, fame, fantasy & other stuffs and while it lacks the element of surprise, it still makes up for a pleasant, light-hearted entertainment.The story of To Rome with Love follows four intertwined but unrelated narratives.
The film also offers some laughs over the course of its runtime but none of its amusing moments stays around once the end credits start rolling.Coming to the performances, the movie features a star-studded ensemble in Woody Allen, Alec Baldwin, Roberto Benigni, Penélope Cruz, Judy Davis, Jesse Eisenberg, Greta Gerwig & Ellen Page and although none of them leave a lasting impression, the sum of parts isn't all too shabby.
Frustrating at times but never really boring, To Rome with Love is funny in little doses plus has its moments but as a whole, it lacks the inventiveness of Woody Allen's best works..
The rest of the cast make up little frazzled stories that each seem dispensable: a worker (Robertp Benigni) who wakes up to find himself a celebrity - for a while; an architect (Alec Baldwin) who takes a trip back to the street he lived on as a student now inhabited by a confused contemporary student (Jesse Eisenberg); a young couple on their honeymoon (Alessandro Tiberi and Alessandra Mastronardi) whose life is disrupted by a hooker (Penelope Cruz) and a movie star (Antonio Albanese); and a frustrated opera director (Woody Allen) and his wife (Judy Davis) who on a trip to Rome to meet their daughter and her fiancé (Allison Pill and Flavio Parenti) has a talent for discovering talented singers and 'discovers' his future in-law (Fabio Armiliato) who sings opera arias well - but only in the shower.
Quite possibly and after some recent hits this one makes me wonder whether age has finally caught up with Woody Allen, who is now 76 and who, by judging from this film, may be well past delivering an even passably enjoyable movie.What a sad waste of an opportunity to enjoy the marvels of a fantastic city like Rome and its wonderful people and culture.
Not the least bit funny or amusing, and they become increasingly boring.What a sad waste of a competent cast including Alec Baldwin, Judy Davis, Roberto Benigni (from "Life is Beautiful") Penelope Cruz, and Ellen Page etc.
The only joy for me in this film was the brief time that Penelope Cruz spends on the screen; she at least marvelously delivers her small part as only she can, despite everything else dragging this movie down.The role for Roberto Benigni's character is terrible; a simply ridiculous and distracting annoyance throughout the film.The ending of the film was simply underwhelming.This film had all the right ingredients, like some of Woody Allen's other European based movies, so why did it turn out so badly ?
Tells the story of people living in Rome, and there day to day funny adventure and misadventure.Like in Midnight In Paris, Woody Allen makes the audience feel like there in Rome, it's like he is giving us a tour.
going through 4 uneven, unrelated stories placed in the beautiful city of Rome, Woody Allen, the master of repartee (how awesome it is to see him still able to deadpan a line like none other), manages to create an intelligent film, plunging his characters into a world of art and knowledge.
Sure, it's not plausible (neither were Marx Brothers films) but that didn't matter to me, I was laughing out aloud in an empty room, which is usually a good sign of a good movie.I remember when people used to say something like "Where's the old Woody Allen, when he used to be funny?" well here he is.
If you want the finer detail about the film read others worthy reviews (I can't understand the bad ones of course), but if you want an opinion as to if you should watch, then I thought it's up there with Woody Allen's best, but may not be high art, just great fun.
After the critical and commercial successes of "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" and "Midnight in Paris," Woody Allen follows these city- tributes up with another one, this time for the Italian capital of Rome.
A series of circumstances will make them to be separated and face temptation, he to a prostitute catering to Rome's high class (Penelope Cruz), she to a famous if somewhat pathetic older actor (Antonio Albanese).In episode 2 (not completely bad, but probably the weakest of the four), Roberto Benigni, overacting as usual, is a Roman everyman who suddenly and inexplicably becomes a celebrity hounded by the press.In episode 3 (probably the best), Jack (Jesse Eisenberg) is an American student living in Rome with his sweet if somewhat bland girlfriend, Sally (Greta Gerwig).
Allen is a retired former executive in the classical musical business, and after listening to Giancarlo (played by Fabio Armiliato, a real life Italian tenor), the father of his son in law, singing in the shower, he tries to convince him to try a career as an opera singer, to amusing results.Some might say that the episodes are slight (and in a way they are right) but the movie contains some wise reflections on old age, fame, love, whether is better to settle or try for more, etc.
To Rome with Love (2012) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Woody Allen's latest features another all-star cast including the likes of Allen himself, Judy Davis, Roberto Benigni, Alison Pill, Alec Baldwin, Greta Gerwig, Alessandra Mastronardi, Jesse Eisenberg, Penelope Cruz and Ellen Page.
To Mr. Woody Allen: Writing, producing, directing films each year straight since 1982's "A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy" and the latest installment of Woody Allen's motion picture factory "Wonder Wheel" to be released at New York Film Festival on October 14th 2017, you show remarkable endurance to present films with a calm, filled full of life-time anecdotes, voice, attracting the most accomplished actors of our time from around mainly from the U.S. and Europe, where "To Rome With Love" just fits in as one of the minors, close-to non-sense distracting film of yours, where you only break out once in the last twenty years with the film "Match Point" (2005) by letting actress Scarlett Johansson getting killed by a shotgun attack through Jonathan Rhys-Meyers in order to be able to play a part in London's high society.
To Rome With Love adds to Allen's ongoing European travelogue, and while it certainly isn't his strongest efforts, his lovable vibes are still visible through the sea of sheer craft.Starring: Woody Allen, Alec Baldwin, Roberto Benigni, Penélope Cruz, Judy Davis, Jesse Eisenberg, Greta Gerwig, and Ellen Page.
After his acclaimed "Midnight In Paris", Woody Allen chooses the location of the the eternal city and directs "To Rome With Love", a story about a number of people in Italy, some of them American, some others Italian, some others residents or visitors, and the romances/adventures/predicaments they are all involved in.
Woody Allen, Alec Baldwin, Roberto Benigni, Penelope Cruz, Judy Davis, Jesse Eisenberg, Greta Gerwig and Ellen Page stars in this comedic ode.
I also loved films that showcase a great city, like Allen did with Midnight in Paris in 2011 and Vicky Christina Barcelona in 2008.
Woody Allen is a movie director who has a deeply knowledge of modern urban life (his more significant films take place in New York, London, Paris, Barcelona and now Rome) in its various aspects mainly those concerned with human relations namely in what refers to love and the several ways it reveals itself including sex.
I still much prefer the more familiar setting of New York in Woody Allen films, but MIdnight in Paris and To Rome with Love prove that Woody knows exactly what he was doing whether he was in the U.S. or not.
To Rome With Love is certainly not Woody Allen's best work.