Review of Johnny Stecchino (1991) by Christopher E — 12 Oct 2009

I must admit I like this partly because it's Italian and I was in Italian class when I was introduced, but also because Roberto Benigni is damn nigh infallibly entertaining in my hands (even in Pinocchio, which I thought was charming in Italian).

Here he plays one Johnny Toothpick ("Stecchino"), a Sicilian mobster that a few people don't like, and also his physically indistinguishable opposite Dante, a moper and bungler who gets by on insurance checks by pretending he can't stop his arm moving.

Needless to say Dante wouldn't use suspicion on a beautiful woman falling in love with him on sight, however unconvincingly... This toweringly unserious plot is a distant relative of Ace Ventura's, but extravagant in an Italian way.

The comparison is oblique--they're not much alike on the surface. It's all Benigni, lovably funny or broke.