Neri Parenti
Vacanze ai Caraibi

To celebrate my birthday last Thursday, I went to see "Vacanze ai Caraibi," the latest installment in the now three-decade-long Christmas series produced by the Vanzina brothers or Neri Parenti, depending on the case. The latest one was directed by Neri, who, besides the usual Christian De Sica and Massimo Ghini (who has now replaced the namesake Boldi forming an already established duo), also gives an opportunity to more or less recent faces from the TV scene. In particular, three figures who gained success in 2003 for different reasons were chosen: the "gieffino" Luca Argentero, the showgirl Ilaria Spada, and the comedian Dario Bandiera. There was an attempt to revive the early 2000s. Among the main actors, the very talented Angela Finocchiaro joins them, alongside Ghini as the best presence in the film. The film already: what do you expect from the now customary "cine-panettone"? The jokes are more or less the same, "ah li mortacci tua" and the like, the mature man who goes with the young girl, the adulterous couple... the ingredients are always the same, just the actors and the story change a bit. In this particular case, "Vacanze ai Caraibi" revolves around three stories: the story of Christian De Sica and Angela Finocchiaro, who want to prevent the marriage between their young daughter and Ottavio (Massimo Ghini), but when they find out he is rich, they do everything to allow the wedding; the adulterous couple Argentero-Spada, he all intellectual, she all tacky; and finally Dario Bandiera, a tech-addict who invents computers, the latest generation cell phones, and WhatsApp with stones even on a deserted island. Overall, it's the usual Christmas flick that draws just a few laughs and nothing more, and among its peculiarities, it's worth mentioning that it's less Christmas-themed in its setting, not only because it's set in the Caribbean, but it seems the director's intention was not to give it a necessarily Christmas designation. Positive note? I WAS THE ONLY ONE IN THE THEATER!!! And then a couple arrived and sat behind me and... well, I'll let you imagine, I was focused on the viewing. The fact that there were only three of us still shows that the audience has abandoned these low-level productions, not only culturally, but also because of the endless repetition of the same clichés. Popcorn is a must at the cinema, helping to "digest" it better, so I also got a glass. But anyway, it was just a small treat for my birthday, generally, I don't recommend wasting money like that, neither for the popcorn nor ESPECIALLY for movies like this. Ps: I paid a whopping 7 euros for the movie :(