User Reviews

Johnny Stecchino review by Jeremy Lawrence

Johnny Stecchino is a delightfully funny piece of Italian film history, with flamboyant characters and American influences derived from such roots as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keatan and Woodie Allen. Although the jokes, for the most part are derived from Italian culture, their routes display common beliefs and experiences of all cultures. They play on the stereotypes of Italian culture perceived by the rest of the world. The main character Dante, played by Benigni, has a comedic and arrogant personality. He miraculously finds himself repeatedly in life threatening situations. However, he some how manages to get himself out unscathed, and due to his character the audience cannot help but laugh at his arrogance. This film displays master comedic work and the work of a brilliant framer using every inch of his presidium arch to set up and deliver the plethora of gags. Throughout the film each gag is set up primarily by setting a visual mood that allows the viewer to not only feel the joke at hand but also to live the joke. This allows the joke to run deeper into the viewer's knowledge and belief system. For instance, in the film Dante is preparing to snort a line of cocaine. Almost everyone on earth, who has watched films or television, knows what the white powder is and how the drug is used. In the stories, when Dante does not know what the powder is his uncle tells him that the powder is a drug to cure his diabetes. Through the film this knowledge is tested and the main character tries to pass the drug off as a cure for diabetes. Another of the new techniques used was that of editing as well as visuals to develop the 4 D's (Desire, Deception, Discovery, and destiny) of a traditional comedic structure to develop the comedic persona of all the gags and to tie all them together. In doing this Benigni used many traditional techniques of cross cutting and of cutting to show the action, not cutting to develop the act. Actually Benigni uses the long take, which, according to Charlie Chaplin are the way comedies are suppose to be shot, for example a shot that would normally be inter cut with close ups, such as the car in reverse gag. In the frame, Dante enters his bus and the audience is led to think that he will back up. As he turns to look at the camera in order to back up, the foliage can be scene through the window pressed closer to the camera. This makes it obvious that he is actually driving forward and not backing out and in the same shot Dante's expression draws us to his gaze without rack focusing (rabidly changing focus from one object to another). All of the visual and dialectical techniques demonstrate the comedic genius of Benigni. Although the jokes are not universal to all cultures, Benigni creates a mood of light comedy and intellectual triumph which in part explains the success of Johnny Stecchino.

The above summary was not meant as an insult in any way. It's because this was the most successful film in Italian movie history is why I mentioned that it's best appreciated by Italians. That is because while the film is fun and I did enjoy it, I just can't see this film being adored elsewhere--it just seems like a slightly better than average film--and not deserving to break box office records when compared to some other "greater" Italian films (such as THE CHILDREN ARE WATCHING US, UMBERTO D. among others). I guess this film really struck a chord with Italian audiences that just didn't happen elsewhere. Perhaps it was because the film makes fun of the mafia or perhaps they just adore Begnini.

Robert Begnini plays dual roles--one a nice bumbler names "Dante" and a dirty crook known as "Johnny Stecchino". When Stecchino's wife meets Dante by chance, she realizes he's the spitting image of her husband and tricks Dante into coming to Palermo. That's because in the capital of Sicily, Johnny is totally reviled by most everyone--either because he was a brutal mobster or because, to save his own skin, he betrayed the mob. As a result, the real Johnny has been in hiding 18 months--fearing for his pathetic life. The plan is to have Dante pose as Johnny--thereby being murdered in Johnny's place! Poor Dante doesn't know about this, but the film becomes awfully funny when through a series of mistakes, Dante thinks people are trying to kill him because he stole a banana! While a bit stupid, this joke is also pretty funny and I loved it when he was convinced that the grocer and his family had sworn a vendetta against him over a stupid banana! Because of this silly mix-up, the lovable loser in "Dante", the physical comedy of Begnini and the style of music employed throughout the film, the overall product was extremely reminiscent of an old Woody Allen film (back when he used to be funny in the late 60s and early 70s). Funny, entertaining and worth seeing, though I just can't see why this film was so strongly embraced by the Italians. Of course, I am sure the Italians feel the same way when it comes to many of the American films that the American public adores as well! To each his own.

By the way, I read that this film was rated R. I really can't see why, as PG-13 seems pretty reasonable (due to language, a few MINOR sexual scenes and a tiny image of a nude woman on a calendar). Most parents would probably not be overly concerned about letting a child 12 or up to see this film.

This is a top-class comic story, and my favorite Roberto Benigni movie. The characters and situations work absolutely wonderfully, and I love the interaction and the plot twists in this story.

(Spoiler warning)

My favorite segment is the banana sequence (and no, it's not what you would expect with a banana sequence). The classic "double think" as the situation develops, the differing points of view of the various characters involved, and the way the whole sequence escalates is totally brilliant in its execution.

For any comedy fan, this one is a must-see!

When you think about Benigni, humor in all it's varieties and unbelievable situations are dominant motives. And again, his (Dante) partner is amazing actress and producer Nicoletta Braschi (Maria). In the movie, Dante starting as an ordinary, but a little bit strange guy. His accidental meeting with Maria change his life at all. He is going to visits her at Sicily, but doesn't know about her husband (Johnny Stechinno) who is targeted mafia boss. The biggest problem for him is amazing similarity with him (also stared by Benigni), but as a naive man Dante thinks that the biggest problem is about one stolen banana. Misunderstanding is key feature. Benigni acting is always amazing, maybe the same as combination of actors in old speechless movies (for example Charlie Chaplin in ''City Lights'') and Luis De Funes (in ''L'Avare'' for example). My big recommendation for all who prefer comic movies, Italian landscapes and of course - Benigni.

Even though Roberto Benigni is very popular on this website, I doubt that many people know more than one movie of the man. Sure, everybody has heard of "La vita è bella" before, but if you ask them to name another one of his Italian movies, I'm pretty sure they can't. And yet the man is a good actor. Especially when it comes to comedies he's far above average. Not that you have to believe me of course, but when you've seen this "Johnny Stecchino", or "Johnny Toothpick" as it is called in English, you'll probably say that I'm right.

Dante is a simple and kind-hearted man who is happy driving the school bus for a group of mentally handicapped children. But his life isn't exactly very spectacular as he lives on his own, doesn't have a girlfriend or wife and only seems to have one friend, one of the handicapped children with whom he likes to steal an occasional banana. When he's almost run over by Maria, a beautiful and rich lady, all this seems to change. She seems to fall in love with him head over heals and she soon invites him to her gigantic villa in Palermo, Sicily. But what he doesn't know that he's part of an evil plot. He looks exactly the same as Maria's gangster husband, Johnny Stecchino, who's life is in big danger as the rest of the crime syndicates want him dead and buried. They have invited Dante in the hope that he will be killed instead of Johnny Stecchino...

To fully appreciate this movie I guess you have to be ready for this kind of humor. It all feels a lot like slapstick and I doubt if everybody likes that all that much. Personally I liked it in this movie. It gave it all a bit of an interesting, but surreal touch. But even though the story and its humor feel a bit like slapstick, it still gives a decent feeling of what Italy is like. They like good food and wine, they like a party so now and then, but corruption and crime aren't all that far away.

This script could easily have been used to make a very good drama with it, but I admit that the humor in it makes it a bit more special and noticeable. What also helps to remember this movie are Roberto Benigni's and Nicoletta Braschi's performances. Especially Benigni did a nice job in this double role. He gave both characters a completely different feeling and only a slightly different look, which made it even more interesting, because you certainly had to stay focused.

All in all this is a very good comedy that proves that Benigni isn't just a one-hit wonder. The story, the acting, the humor,... make this a movie that is certainly worth a try. Personally I really liked it and that's why I give it at least a 7.5/10.