I'm sorry to report that Michele Placido's "Il Grande Sogno" is a mess. It meanders from one predictable point to another even more predictable. Perhaps the most frustrating aspect is that Placido tries to pass on this pastiche as a serious personal memory. Nono of it clicks, everything looks and feels like a sentimental invention. Riccardo Scamarcio has an interesting face but he's just plain boring on the screen because I can't believe anything he says or does. Jasmine Trinca is a very special actress but she has a soap opera character to play. She gives it dignity and her effort is to be applauded but why, just tell me why Placido had to show her naked, a total full frontal in the most gratuitous fashion imaginable. Luca Argentero on the other hand is engaging and convincing and although I couldn't believe in his character I believed in him. "Il Grande Sogno" is a long, pretentious and altogether pointless film. Why was it in competition at Venice?
Review of The Big Dream
