Paolo Virzi takes a big swing at the individual-level consequences of a world focused on money and power, but this knotty narrative seems far more confident in its significance than is warranted. The story bounces back and forth in time, looking at the same days—leading up to and following from an accident in which a car runs a bicyclist off the road—from the perspective of three characters. Dino (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) wants to invest with hot-shot businessman Giovanni (Fabrizio Gifuni); Dino’s daughter, Serena (Matilde Gioli), is dating Giovanni’s son; and Giovanni’s wife, Carla (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), devotes herself to restoring a local theater. The backtracking chronology creates the sense that this is something of a whodunit, only gradually revealing who was responsible for the accident, and that question does drive some interest in the story. But while the performances are solid—Tedeschi particularly good as a wife of privilege desperately trying to find a way to fill her days meaningfully—the final revelations don’t really justify the buildup. Yeah, greed isn’t always good, and little guys sometimes get squashed. Just don’t act as though you discovered that notion.
By
Scott Renshaw