Pasquale Falcone
Io Non Ci Casco

The harmony of a group of students, on the brink of their classical maturity exams, is severely compromised by a scooter accident involving the "group leader" Marco, who ends up in a coma. The friends, with the support of the clinic's chief doctor, the head nurse, and the boy's parents, will gather around him to bring him back to life, but the most significant aspect is that, only through this tragic episode, the characters will discover themselves through small confessions in the room where their friend is, revealing fears and secrets. It will be an opportunity for reconnection for the divorced parents and a chance for all his classmates to freely vent their darker and more emotional sides.

The plot of Pasquale Falcone's second film as a director could easily be summarized with the following phrase: "The balance of a group of friends is shattered by death or the prospect of losing a loved one". Italian and international cinema have already addressed this theme many times, sometimes with excellent results (from "Saturno contro" to "Non ti muovere" passing through "The Barbarian Invasions" and "The Group"), but Falcone follows different, perhaps broader and more complex coordinates compared to the aforementioned films. The characters take on various current issues (Euthanasia, divorce, family violence, road safety, abortion, suicide) leaving the viewer with valid food for thought which, however, remain sketched on celluloid. This catastrophic kaleidoscope, combined with an almost television-style direction, slightly affects an entirely positive judgment on the film, but it's worth looking at other equally important aspects because limiting to this would penalize the film.

Firstly, the actors. If the presence of stars such as Ornella Muti (in the not very convincing role of the teacher siding with the young ones), Maria Grazia Cucinotta (Head nurse and already a producer), Maurizio Casagrande (Chief doctor) and Claudio Coccoluto (Guest at the end-of-year party organized by Marco's friends and an idol of the latter) seems to be forcibly inserted to give a glamorous sheen to the film, the rest of the cast manages not to be intimidated by the big names. Rosaria De Cicco gives us an extraordinary performance as Marco's mother, reflective and neurotic, lovesick for her dying son; Pasquale Falcone, the father, is comfortable on set, drawing from his experience as a cabaret performer and theater actor to keep afloat. The acting levels of the kids who play the school group are rather good, with the charming Federica "lesbicona" Ferro standing out. In the role of the protagonist Marco is Paolo Albano, an actor at the beginning of his career (Like all the other kids. Noteworthy: they are not professionals), who acts only in the first twenty - thirty minutes but, as might have been inferred, assumes a significant narrative function. The actual protagonist of the story, or rather the one who takes over the leadership role, is Vincenzo Falcone, son of the director and screenwriter Pasquale, on par with the general levels but not particularly praiseworthy when mimicking De Sica ("'Na cafonata!" ...what there is is more than enough.). The twelve kids in the film demonstrate team spirit and coordination, as suggested by the initial scene of the seance in which a fun and comradely spirit emerges, almost like a Masonic sect, reminding of the youths in "Dead Poets Society", but this is another story.

The film flows pleasantly, is easily watchable, and targets the viewer's heart thanks to the spontaneous genuineness intrinsic to the work. You're ready to metaphorically pin a nice 3/5-star ribbon on it when at the end of the second part, it veers into the paradoxical. Marco's girlfriend, the talented Elena Baldi, wants to jump out of the confessional room's window leaving a note ("Life has no meaning in the face of death", a banal and pietistic adolescent outburst), but just as she's about to jump, a call from the DJ, who during a visit to his die-hard fan forgot his phone in the room, stops her (Miraculous Coccoluto???); Falcone Jr. finds himself attending a performance of a gospel choir in perfect Sister Act style, a scene that was not needed (Spiritual turn???) and towards the end reality blurs with the dreamlike, slightly pretentious.

Entertaining dialogues, supporting characters who respect their roles and help to temper the dramatic vein, plus it can count on excellent sets and suggestive exteriors (especially the nocturnal ones), partly thanks to the work of Antonello Emidi, director of photography. Almost entirely shot in the Campanian city of Cava de Tirreni (SA) with a budget not exactly sky-high, "Io non ci casco" is a good alternative to the cinepanettoni and a first step in highlighting the potentially good in "underground" cinema. Ultimately, if you're looking for a disengaged film, one that manages to not disappoint, that oscillates between the polar opposites of the silliness of "Christmases I don't know where anymore" and the refined drama of "A Christmas Tale", far from great cinema but also from box office brashness, welcome home.