Gli uomini d'oro

Vincenzo Alfieri's second movie is full of ambition, creativity and passion, but not fully balanced, preventing it from being a total gem, but still presenting itself as unique and very intriguing flick to watch.

It's worthy to appreciate the intent to bring back the Thriller genre in the Italian cinematic panorama, and to raise the expectations by using a not so direct narrative structure, maybe not really original, but still treated with a specific identity.

This is both the strength of the picture, and the source of its weakest points.

Every chapter reflects the essence of the three characters, with the first being more over the top, the second more on the line of a personal tragedy, and the third one more as a dark crime flick.

The three main actors serve very well their roles, even though Morelli doesn't manage to fully get his easygoing nature, while giving its best in the few tragic and serious moments he's involved in.

The real surprise was Fabio De Luigi, showing the real pain and anger of a man with a broken body and soul, only wanting to give his life an impossible stability.

And Edoardo Leo too surprises, although going into more detail about him would give away too precious spoilers.

As it goes on, the movie grows in entertainment and style, being grittier and impressive for how it evokes the desperation of hopeless misfits, being both guilty and victims of crimes.

The way every segment interconnects with the others is precise and easy to follow, and the cinematography too is top notch, except in using the various neons, which are more of a mixed result.

These points of strength still don't completely solve the problem of the balance, in which, despite understanding very well the dynamic of the heist, and the motives of every character, it leaves us with a sense of incompleteness, not diving really enough in all its depth, even if this doesn't mean that Alfieri did a superficial work.

So, this is a noteworthy work to admire and discover thanks to its genuine passion, maybe still a bit immature, but full of style and audacity.

I was very willing to watch this movie, especially to see Matilde Gioli, a natural special effect of her own. However, the first 30 minutes went by without an effort on the director's part to build sympathy or at least interest for the lead characters.

The main problem with recent Italian action / thriller films is that they try to become distinctive by use of "ethnic" stuff (like diving deep into dialects) rather than by coming up with authentic visual ways of naratting the story.

The difference between made-for-TV Italian fiction and theatrical releases has become almost invisible due to the former getting better as the latter is losing impact.

The colors, overall feel and character portrayals in this one reminds me of Michele Soavi's powerful "Arrivederci amore ciao", without coming even close to its level of grittiness and depth.

Sorry for the low score, but nothing with the first half hour promotes anything a random Hollywood heist flick can't, and there are just too many movies around to bear with one for longer than that in the absence of originality.

(I must admit that I did get to see enough of Matilde Gioli in an intimate scene, though)