In a recent review, I bellied about the lack of guts of a 60's black comedy called "How to Murder Your Wife". A few days later, I discovered this Italian made comedy that has those guts and more, not afraid to show the difference between a lady and a female and the boys who turn into men learning the difference. That boy/man is Dustin Hoffman, playing an innocent most desperate for love who unfortunately finds out to be careful what you wish for. Set up on a blind date by his best friend, he finds himself the intended victim of his best friend's supposed girlfriend who basically bullies him into a relationship and a subsequent marriage of horror. At the beginning of the film, he is in the process of divorcing her and describes her to the audience as a genuine witch. Flashbacks prove this. She practically stalks him (even worse than Jessica Walter did Clint Eastwood in "Play Misty For Me" and Glenn Close did to Michael Douglas in "Fatal Attraction"), calling him every day non-stop both at work and in the middle of the night, exhausting him every step of the way. Yet, he marries her anyway. It is obvious that this woman wanted to marry someone she felt she could dominate, but there is a tiger lurking under Hoffman's sweet kitten. That is what makes this film so darn funny.
Hoffman gives a Chaplin like performance as the suckered young man who finally wakes up. Stefania Sandrelli isn't afraid at all to explore the dark side of her character, Maria Rosa Cavaroni in Sbisà. Every time Hoffman says "Maria Rosa", it is with a touch of acid, as if he was spitting venom. Like the old saying, "There's a Thin Line Between Love and Hate", and as Beatrice Arthur added to her TV husband on "Maude", "and you're crossing it!". When Sandrelli destroys Hoffman's downstairs room, she reminds me of Barbara Steele in "Black Sunday" in her white witch like nightgown. Carla Gravina is most attractive as the next woman in Hoffman's life, a completely different character who may tower over Hoffman but proves to be a more amiable partner. This apparently takes place during the time the Roman Catholic Church lost its power to prevent divorce in Italy. There is a very funny visual concerning Sandrelli's "hysterical pregnancy" that is almost a just reward to set Hoffman's character free. The ending has an ironic twist that is the icing on the cake.
Hoffman gives a Chaplin like performance as the suckered young man who finally wakes up. Stefania Sandrelli isn't afraid at all to explore the dark side of her character, Maria Rosa Cavaroni in Sbisà. Every time Hoffman says "Maria Rosa", it is with a touch of acid, as if he was spitting venom. Like the old saying, "There's a Thin Line Between Love and Hate", and as Beatrice Arthur added to her TV husband on "Maude", "and you're crossing it!". When Sandrelli destroys Hoffman's downstairs room, she reminds me of Barbara Steele in "Black Sunday" in her white witch like nightgown. Carla Gravina is most attractive as the next woman in Hoffman's life, a completely different character who may tower over Hoffman but proves to be a more amiable partner. This apparently takes place during the time the Roman Catholic Church lost its power to prevent divorce in Italy. There is a very funny visual concerning Sandrelli's "hysterical pregnancy" that is almost a just reward to set Hoffman's character free. The ending has an ironic twist that is the icing on the cake.