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For Roseanna
*** (PG-13) Marcello: Jean Reno
Roseanna:
Mercedes Ruehl
Cecilia: Polly Walker
Antonio: Mark
Frankel
Father Bramilla: Giuseppe Cederna
Dr. Benvenuto:
Renato Scarpa
Directed by Paul Weiland. Written by Saul Turteltaub.
Running time: 99 minutes. Rated PG-13 (for sexuality and brief language).
BY ROGER EBERT Death inspires a certain logic that can seem very
funny, if seen from a safe distance. ``For Roseanna'' tells the story of a
woman who believes she has weeks if not days to live, and of her loving
husband, who wants to observe her dying wish--to be buried in the village
cemetery with their child. It is not a simple matter; since the tightrope
walker fell from the rope, there are only three graves left.
The village is in Italy--a movie Italy where everyone speaks English,
with an Italian accent. The international cast populates a picturesque
location just around the corner, I imagine, from the location of
``Enchanted April.'' Every time I see a movie like this, I find myself
thinking, to hell with the movie, I want to go there on vacation.
The dutiful husband is named Marcello (Jean Reno), as well he might
be, since this is the kind of role Marcello Mastroianni could have
performed in his sleep. He's a friendly but worried trattoria owner whose
fear that the cemetery will fill up leads him to a desperate
death-prevention campaign in which he directs traffic in the town square,
grabs cigarettes out of the mouths of smokers, and even lies that a coma
victim in the hospital has regained consciousness and asked for the soccer
scores.
Reno, who played a cold, skilled killer in ``The Professional,'' is
here a warm Everyman, besotted with love. His wife Roseanna is played by
Mercedes Ruehl, who may be surprised to find herself a housewife in Italy
but rises to the occasion. She doesn't appear terribly ill; perhaps she
has Ali MacGraw's Disease, first identified in ``Love Story,'' where the
only symptom is that the patient grows more beautiful until finally dying.
Her heart is weak. She wants to stage-manage from the grave, and is
obsessed with making plans for those who will have to carry on without
her. Her husband, for example, should marry her sister Cecilia (Polly
Walker). Fine, except that they don't much like each other, and besides,
Cecilia falls in love with Antonio (Mark Frankel), the nephew of the rich
landowner Capestro (Luigi Diberti), who has caused all the trouble in the
first place by refusing to sell the village more land to expand the
cemetery. Why is Capestro such a killjoy? Because he and Marcello have
been enemies for years. It may have something to do with an old feud over
a bicycle race, but there are also deeper currents and old loves that have
not died. We now have all the pieces in place for a goodhearted farce, in
which lovers will be split up and united, misunderstandings will nearly
lead to tragedy, and death will be feared, avoided and confronted. There's
enough going on that we hardly need the escaped kidnapper, although his
final act of vengeance against the man who wronged him does show a certain
ingenuity.
``For Roseanna'' isn't of much consequence, perhaps, and the gears of
the plot are occasionally visible as they turn. But it's a small, sweet
film that never tries for more than it's sure of, and the actors find it
such a relief to be playing such goodhearted characters that we can almost
feel it. Of course we're sure that with a setup like this the movie must
have a sad ending. That only adds to the fun.
Copyright © Chicago Sun-Times Inc.
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