Hotel Paradiso

In order to fully appreciate Hotel Paradiso, you're going to have to know it was based off a French play. If you didn't know that going in, you'd probably turn the movie off before the "weekend in the country" began. Now that you know it's based off a French play, you'll be expecting a wacky comedy of errors.

Within a block of houses in a Parisian town in the 1900s, there are quite a few couples having trouble. Gina Lollobrigida is married to Robert Morley, and she's upset that he always leaves her to go to work. Alec Guinness hates his wife, Peggy Mount, and he overhears Gina declaring she'll throw herself at the first man she comes across, just to get back at her husband. Through a series of fast-talking coincidences and awkward planning, Gina and Alec make plans to spend the night at the same hotel that Robert has been hired to inspect. Peggy is also staying at the hotel, to indulge in her secret double-life, and Gina's nephew is enjoying a rendezvous with a lowly maid. A houseguest Alec turned away is also seeking shelter at the hotel, so you can bet it's going to be a very busy evening.

Hotel Paradiso is a like-it-or-lump-it kind of movie. If you like these types of wacky sex comedies, you'll be wiping tears of laughter from your eyes. If you don't, you might not make it all the way through. To each his own, and while it wasn't my favorite comedy of the month, I can understand how much funnier it would have been to watch it unfold in a theater.