Momenti di trascurabile felicità

Daniele Luchetti's Ordinary Happiness (Momenti di trascurabile felicità) presents an intriguing premise that ultimately struggles to find its footing. The story follows Paolo (Pif), an ordinary man given 92 extra minutes on Earth after a clerical error in the afterlife. What unfolds is a whimsical exploration of life's minor joys and missed opportunities.

Pif brings his signature charm to the role of Paolo, delivering a performance that is both heartfelt and humorous. However, the script, co-written by Francesco Piccolo and Luchetti, lacks the emotional depth needed to fully engage the audience. While moments of wit and insight shine through, the narrative often feels aimless, meandering through episodic vignettes that fail to coalesce into a satisfying whole.

The supporting cast, including Thony as Paolo's wife, provides warmth and authenticity, but their characters are underdeveloped, leaving much of the emotional weight resting on Pif's shoulders. Renato Carpentieri offers moments of levity as a quirky celestial bureaucrat, but these scenes feel more like comic relief than integral parts of the story.

Visually, the film is pleasant but unremarkable, relying on soft lighting and warm tones to evoke a nostalgic atmosphere. The pacing, much like Paolo's borrowed time, feels rushed in places and overly indulgent in others, detracting from the film's potential impact.

Ordinary Happiness is best suited for viewers who appreciate light, introspective comedies, but it may leave those looking for a deeper exploration of its themes unsatisfied.

Rating: 5/10 - A charming but shallow meditation on life's fleeting moments.

After 20+ years of using my favourite imdb without being a member, I just signed because I couldn't help seeing this wonderful movie so underrated (5,5). This movie is so poetic, funny, clever and talks about life, death, happiness, choices etc in such a great way. Movies like these are a reason why I love so much Italian cinema (I am Greek). See it and thank me later ;)

During the lockdown I watched a lot of movies to catchup with the modern films. With all the available time in the world I was looking for something light yet funny. This was a very surprising movie for me. I didn't hope for much but in the end I was satisfied with the story, the comedy and acting. Best of luck.

The opening of this movie struck me visually. I saw in those early scenes a very genuine interpretation of ascencion to an ethereal life.

After that, as the theme bagan to shape up, Tornatore's "A Pure Formality" and Warren Beatty's "Heaven Can Wait" came to mind.

And then... Well, hard to put a finger on the problem, but something began to malfunction with the whole experience. It just didn't flow. Scenes stopped making sense after a while. I got the feeling that I might have missed some crucial detail on the technicality with the protaganoist's particular condition. If so, it was on me. But still, the pace and the visual technique did not add up. How the 92 minutes was to be used or distributed seemed to lack any kind of logic, which defeats the whole narrative from the perspective of a "make believe" approach. On top of that, the crackling voice of the protagonist began to annoy me.

As I was watching it on Rai1, I got on IMDb during the commercial breaks to check the score and the comments. And quite strangely for a movie of 5.7 over 1300 votes, almost all the reviewers had given it straight 10s with short and strong recommendations. Gives the feeling that the crew and/or the writer of the source material has a devout fan base. Confusing for me as I enjoy it when movies manipulate the audience from the inside rather than by means of brain hacking via social influence.

My overall feeling is that there is some missed opportunity with this one. No doubt the people involved have tried hard on certain scenes, but an all-encompassing directorial approach seems to lack. Come to think of it: that lacking element was exactly what made Amelie Poulain something above and beyond a movie, a manifestation of French culture + a variety of fresh cinematic innovations.

The observations of the protagonist in the opening scenes had given me a similar vibe, alas... The beginning and the ending kept it kinda cool, but I got the feeling there was some great void and confusion amids the story.

Could this one be as great as the one centered around Amelie Poulain? A movie that explored life in a witty and entertaining way through the lens of Italian culture?... Who knows... All I can say is, its current state is way below that of Amelie's.

This movie makes me realize how often I take everything and everyone in my life for granted. Great movie!