MID-AUGUST LUNCH

a delicious comedy!

 ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES. Mid-August Lunch is a gem whose intelligent, gentle, deadpan humor is entirely irresistible. This is a film that the broadest of audiences can enjoy. Director Gianni Di Gregorio tells the semi-autobiographical story of Gianni, a middle-aged man who lives with his aged, widowed mother (Valeria De Franciscis). Through a humorous turn of events, Gianni (played to perfection by the director) is forced to take care not only of his strong-willed mother during an August holiday, but three other equally fussy elderly women as well. Perhaps not since the original Ladykillers has there been a movie with such stupendous little old ladies. And it is refreshing to see older characters written with so much warmth and respect. De Franciscis, Marina Cacciotti, Maria Cali and Grazia Cesarni Sforza have a comic timing so perfect it is hard to believe none of them have acted before. Di Gregorio also gently mocks the stereotypical figure of the Italian man who never gets out from the under the skirts of an overbearing mother. With a drink in hand at all times, Gianni patiently tends to the groceries, cooking and dispensing of medicine in a delightfully amusing battle of the wills that he is doomed to lose from the onset. Mid-August Lunch wonderfully captures Rome's languid summer days. The soundtrack's blend of organ music and jazz adds further brio to a story that leaves you chuckling long after it ends. –The Hollywood Reporter