The Sleazy Uncle

Stars: Giancarlo Giannini (Seven Beauties, Swept Away, New York Stories), Vittorio Gassman (The Family, Sharky's Machine). Director Franco Brusati, whose wonderful Bread and Chocolate (1978) has yet to be released on video, delivers a considerably lesser film in this so-so satire. Vittorio Gassman stars as Uncle Luca who, from his hospital bed, calls for his well-off nephew Riccardo (Giannini) to assist him financially. Riccardo shows up, mostly because he's intrigued by this uncle he's never even heard of. Uncle Luca weasels big bucks out of Riccardo, flies the hospital coop, and is throwing one helluva party by the time his "nephew" catches up with him. No problem. Uncle Luca, wily character that he is, pours on the charm, and worms his way even deeper into Riccardo's life. While the plot takes a few more twists and turns, the writing just isn't up to snuff with Gassman's and Giannini's abilities, and the film begins to seriously drag. A semi-poignant ending isn't able to save this rambling film that only really shines during one exquisite courtroom sequence of fade-ins and outs where we see the many different faces of Uncle Luca. As in Menage (see review in this issue), the subtitles occasionally are unreadable which, as we said earlier, is simply unacceptable today. Audience: Never-say-die foreign film buffs.