1. "Men on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" would be a more fitting title for Gabriele Muccino's latest film, "Kiss Me Again," the
sequel to his hugely popular "The Last Kiss," which not only topped the Italian boxoffice but also won the 2002 Sundance Audience
Award and inspired an American remake. This film could easily sweep up with the public again, and will have even greater
international appeal given the director's US hits, "The Pursuit of Happyness" and "Seven Pounds." But that doesn't make "Kiss Me
Again" a solid or even enjoyable film.
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Ten years later, the group of friends from "The Last Kiss" is back and pushing 40: Carlo (Stefano Accorsi) and Giulia (Vittoria
Puccini, who replaces Giovanna Mezzogiorno and is visibly 10 years younger than the rest) are separated after years of his infidelity,
and will soon be divorced although he wants her back; the marriage between stuffy, wealthy Marco (Pierfrancesco Favino) and
Veronica (Daniela Piazza) is also shaky after years of unsuccessfully trying to have a child; Adriano (Giorgio Pasotti) returns to Rome
after 10 years and some jail time, after having run out on his newborn son and wife Livia (Sabrina Impacciatore), who is now involved
with Paolo (Claudio Santamaria), who still lives at home and is struggling with serious depression; and Alberto (Marco Cocci) works
in a supermarket, sleeps with countless women and still spouts on about moving to Brazil, because settling down means selling out.
If the plot sounds like a soap opera, the film feels like one. Muccino has always made melodramas, but his American outings have
been much more restrained. Here, as in "The Last Kiss" and "Remember Me," character arcs range from near-hysteria to full-blown
histrionics. Most scenes end in tears or shouting, making "Kiss Me Again" a nearly two-and-a-half-hour parade of overwrought
performances from a cast that is capable of much more. Even little kids go from zero to 100 in seconds, or accompany steely-eyed
gazes with lines like "You abandoned me when I wasn't even a year old ... ."
Thankfully, "Kiss Me Again" is gentler with its women than its predecessor. They're still various degrees of bitchy, but mostly
because they're exasperated by the men's never-ending irresponsibility and/or lack of comprehension. Another saving grace is Favino,
one of Italy's best film actors, and too often underrated. Despite Marco's fascist leanings, Favino effortlessly makes him the most
sympathetic of the bunch and draws the most heartfelt laughs.
Muccino's Italian films are often praised for their Hollywood production values, but once again his work has a polished surface that,
unfortunately, belies a weak, repetitive foundation. To top it all off, he even "borrows" from "We All Loved Each Other So Much,"
using one of the main locations from Ettore Scola's masterpiece and staging a watered-down version of key scenes from the older film.
With all due respect to the actors of "Kiss Me Again," they cannot compare to Vittorio Gassman, Nino Manfredi and Stefano Satta
Flores. Nor does Muccino come close
William Tyler Smith's Kiss Me Again concerns the emotional fallout that occurs when a couple who fancies themselves progressive
and liberated attempts to have a sexually open marriage. Jeremy London plays Julian, a professor who is happily married to Chalice
(Katheryn Winnick). When a mutual attraction develops between Julian and his student Elena (Mirelly Taylor), Julian begins to
question his marriage vows. After the couple sees their neighbor engaged in a threesome, Julian broaches the topic of bringing another
person into their marital bed. Once the physical feelings have been sated, everyone is left wit the emotional ramifications. Kiss Me
Again made its world premiere at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
This subtitled French-Italian production returns us to the world of The Last Kiss, a film, which was directed by the same director and
released in 2001. Using mostly the same cast, Gabriele Muccino continues to use his characters , now in their forties, as a sounding
board for life’s complexity, and his film attempts to analyse how human relationships go wrong in people’s lives.
Carlo (Steffano Accorsi) has been married to Giulia (a new actress in this part, Vittoria Puccini), and they are separated. It is only their
daughter, Sveva (Sara Girolami), who keeps them in contact with each other.
In the first film, Carlo was enormously stressed by the knowledge that his wife was unfaithful to him, as he was to her, and realisation
of his unhappiness is eating into his soul. Giulia now lives with a lover, he disapproves of, and much of the movie is about whether he
and Giulia truly love each other, and whether they can trust each other again.
Carlo’s friend Alberto (Marco Cocci) is frustrated with life, as he is, and another friend, Marco (Pierfrancesco Favino) is suspicious,
as he was, that his wife, Veronica (Daniela Piazza), is having an affair with someone else, a suspicion which turns out to be true.
The movie chooses different ways of conveying a variety of moral messages about human fragility and weakness. There is comic
handling of the goings-on of Italian males, providing wry social comment on Italian masculinity, dramatic playing-out of the impact of
mental illness on Carlo and his friends, and heavy doses of sugar-encrusted melodrama threading through.
2. In many ways, this is a movie about discontent and latent unhappiness on multiple fronts, and the characters in the film are flawed by
their own vulnerability. Muccino shows a confident hand, but it is unlikely that his second look at the diversity of humanity will be as
popular as what he created in his original film - Peter Sheehan, Australian Catholic Office of Film and Broadcasting.
Starring Steffano Accorsi, Vittoria Puccini, Sara Girolami, Marco Cocci, and Pierfrancesco Favino. Directed by Gabriele
Muccino. Rated MA15+ (Strong sex scenes). 145 min.
Kiss Me Again
Review by Margaret Pomeranz
Ten years after the successful Italian film THE LAST KISS, we catch up with the characters as they approach the age of forty in KISS
ME AGAIN. Carlo, STEFANO ACCORSI, is having second thoughts about having left his wife Giulia, VITTORIA PUCCINI, even
though they share the care of their daughter.
Adriano, GIORGIO PASOTTI, has returned after a 10 year absence wanting to make contact with his son. He abandoned his wife
Livia, SABRINA IMPACCIATORE, and their one year old son, went off adventuring around the world, did two years in prison for
trying to import cocaine. Livia has now established a relationship with Paolo, CLAUDIO SANTAMARIA, who is unable to control
his mood swings, he's taking medication but it doesn't seem to be helping much.
And Marco, PIERFRANCESCO FAVINO, is having troubles in his marriage to Veronica, DANIELA PIAZZA.
It's all a bit predictable really, and a little bit histrionic. Writer/director Gabriele Muccino fails to inject the zest of his earlier film,
perhaps that's what 10 years does to characters, they become less enthusiastic about life. Many of the scenes are frankly not very
credible. Maybe more so in Italy with an acceptance of that Latin temperament for drama. And it certainly lacks the charm of the
original. It's really an Italian soap. Will Marco win back Veronica? Will Carlo win back Giulia? Will Paolo be able to control his
moods so that he can live happily with Livia? Will Adriano establish a relationship with his son?
It's not very deep. It's not unenjoyable on one level but it's not terribly inspiring catching up with these characters as they go through
mid-life crises. And Adriano's wig is not one of the better ones I've seen on screen.
It could be argued Kiss Me Again was the most anticipated film of the Lavazza Italian Film Festival in 2010, with audiences having
waited seven years for the sequel to hit The Last Kiss (l’ultimo bacio). In the meantime Gabriele Muccino’s gone to Hollywood and
back, buddying up with Will Smith and getting a lot of flak for it. But returning to his homeland, and in particular returning to the
characters many came to know and love in The Last Kiss, was inevitable.
To remain true to time (and ageing faces), Muccino places the timeframe at 10 years past the events of the first film. Kiss Me Again
still focuses on Carlo (Stefano Accorsi) and his relationship with Giulia (Vittoria Puccini), only now daughter Sveva (Sara Girolami)
is what’s keeping them together in any form. As in The Last Kiss, Carlo’s many personal issues are somewhat reflected through his
friends; Alberto (Marco Cocci) still can’t find himself settling down, Marco (Pierfrancesco Favino) can’t shake the feeling wife
Veronica (Daniela Piazza) is having an affair, and Paolo’s (Claudio Santamaria) schizophrenia won’t protect him from a secret he
can’t tell Adriano (Giorgio Pasotti), who’s been M.I.A. for the past two years. While this remains interesting as a real mixed bag
you’re subjected to, it becomes an underlying problem with the story; what has Carlo learnt over the last 10 years? Not a lot
obviously… but as Muccino takes us through their intricate web you learn he’s not the only one. Marco endures his fair share of
emasculation (more often than not projected as comical), intended as a stab at the general traditionalism of Italian males; women
Giulia, Veronica and Livia (Sabrina Impacciatore) on the other hand are all involved in relationships they believe are worth it on the
surface but know deep down they can’t work. Fragile but insistent. Muccino’s always one to play with themes of discontent, and he
creates interesting flawed characters in Kiss Me Again – but struggles to find where it all leads.
Giovanna Mezzogiorno’s decision not to return for the sequel (interestingly enough there were scripting disagreements over character
development) will in one way or another affect how you see Kiss Me Again. While Vittoria Puccini does well as Giulia and it’s unfair
to compare the two, Mezzogiorno’s strong presence morphs into a portrayal of a weaker Giulia in Kiss Me Again. But while many
would see Mezzogiorno as a loss, it doesn’t count for all of the film’s issues. Notably the extensive 2.5 hours-running time… Muccino
loves telling a story and does it well with good cinematography and character interest, but here he fails to cut out unnecessary bulk in
the body of the film – as it drags you wonder why Accorsi looks so utterly bewildered in some scenes. You can’t deny Muccino uses
plenty of drama – stormy days, English power ballads and Italian emotion, but how he throws it in between the comedy – or perhaps
the other way round, comes off as slightly contrived. Kiss Me Again does deserve its merits – Santamaria is particularly powerful as
Paolo, and the harsh realities of life aren’t buried underneath any surface. Growing up doesn’t stop when you’re a grown up.
