Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Penelope Cruz like you've never seen her before..., July 31, 2006
Don't Move is outrageous and totally unbelievable and its full of unbridled histrionics, but luckily Penelope Cruz's impassioned performance as an unglamorous, multi-ethnic refuge living in Italy saves the day in this awkward and structurally uneven melodrama. This film is all about men and how they cheat on women, and how women are the victims of men and how men end up getting what they want no matter what the cost to women.
Sergio Castellito - also the movie's director - plays wealthy doctor Timoteo. Life seems good as he has a decorous marriage to the loving Elsa (Claudia Gerini), a brittle, ridiculously pretty clotheshorse and a thriving career. One afternoon, on the way to a medical conference, his car breaks down, so he enlists the help of Italia (Cruz), a trashy hotel cleaner.
Their relationship begins on a dreadfully violent note - he brutally rapes her, treating her as an escape valve for his worst fantasies of dominance. But something also begins to draw him back to her. Unashamedly lying to his wife, Timoteo returns again and again to Italia and the two gradually develop something resembling a relationship. When Italia turns up pregnant at the same time as the wife, the drama starts to really over-cook.
Whilst Timoteo flashes back to his affair with Italia, we are also given the parallel story of his teenage daughter teenage daughter (Elena Perino) who lies near death in his hospital after a moped accident. As the surgeon stands vigil and his colleagues try to save the girl, he reflects on whether the tragedy might be karmic settlement for previous misdeeds. Of course, with both Italia and Elsa pregnant, Timoteo is faced with some difficult choices - he feels desperately loyal to his wife, but he's also frantically in love with Italia and admits that he can't live without her.
As flashback is piled on top of flashback, the film ends up having a disjointed and structurally awkward quality, which ends up inhibiting much of the action. The sex is also remarkably devoid of titillation, with the most outrageous scene coming about half way through the film where Italia and Timoteo have rain-soaked and grubby sex in the back of a filthy dark alley - she even gets to keep her red shoes on.
By then the film has sort of worn out it's welcome, and most viewers will probably be tired of all the morbid and somewhat misogynistic histrionics being played out. The problem with this film is Timoteo doesn't imbue much sympathy with the viewer - as an Italian version of a male chauvinist pig, who is perfectly comfortable with being somewhat violent towards women and dogs, and compared to what becomes of Italia, he gets off quite lightly.
Castellito does solid work as the meticulous doctor who spends most of the movie behaving like a jerk and Cruz definitely steal the show as Italia. She gives an earthy, rounded and totally vulnerable performance complete with blowsy makeup, crummy teeth, too-tight skirts, and wild hair -- but she gets you to feel for her character and even understand what makes her tick.
The movie as a whole is just so unfocused and dramatically strained, and the narrative is all over the place. Also, the inclusion of western pop music at certain moments doesn't fit with the story and it's shocking to see how Italia would cling to a man so willing to abuse her - yes, there is a reason she's like this, but that doesn't make it any more realistic that she would let it happen.
Indeed, there are some powerful emotional moments that work well, but for most of the movie you feel like you're being manipulated by blatant and contrived melodramatics. Mike Leonard July 06.
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10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Beautiful Film, July 24, 2006
"Don't Move" is an Italian film starring Penelope Cruz ('Vanilla Sky') who is doing what other actresses (Juliette Binoche in 'Cache') have done. After scoring big as an American actress in American films, she returns to her Italian-roots to be in an Italian film. "Don't Move" is an interesting film, it's told out of chronological order. The movie is centered around a disaster, while the main characer flashes back. The main character, by the way, is Timoteo (played by the director Sergio Castellitto). The movie opens with a beautiful shot of rain falling, when we see a young girl being raced into a hospital after apparently having an accident. A few moments later, a nurse walks up to Timoteo (who's a doctor) and tells him that it's his daughter Angela. Flashing backwards, we see Timoteo breaking down in a small italian town and meeting Italia (Cruz). After going back to her house with her, Timoteo rapes her...It's not a vicious rape scene, it's actually pretty tame. It doesn't even really look like rape. Rest assured, this is far from Monica Bellucci in "Irreversible." Well, Timoteo returns to his life and proposes to his girlfriend...But eventually returns to Italia to set things right; But then he continues having an affair with her. I think the ending is kind of predictable, you know which way the romance is heading throughout the entire thing but I don't think the writers gave a damn whether you knew that or not. This movie has some beautiful scenes and beautiful dialogue, which probably wouldn't work in an American film. Director Castellitto is a gifted director that is also a wonderful actor, he really puts his heart into his performance. As for Cruz, she's great too. She gives an Oscar worthy performance but, oddly enough, she looks like crap. I don't know if they didn't let her wear makeup or just put too much on. I mean she really looks terrible in this movie. If you think Penelope Cruz is hot, don't see this movie because it might ruin your view of her. Also, if you're renting this movie merely for sex scenes (the cover strongly implies that there are some) this isn't your movie. There's several sex scenes, but there's little nudity in this film. The only nudity is shown during hospital scenes. But, if you're into foreign films that are wonderfully done and have incredible acting. Then check this movie out.
GRADE: A-
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Meditteranean Cruz, November 26, 2006
While the character played by Sergio Castellitto may be misogynistic, there is no denying his love for Italia (and I don't mean the country). Considering that there was a completely unexpected rape scene early on, I was surprised by how moving this film was. His line comparing losing a loved one to 'rivers, dogs & trees' hit me especially hard. It may be manipulative, but it is never boring. When it was over, I was very surprised to see that the running time was over two hours. I also gained a respect for Cruz's talents that apparently are never put to the test in her American productions.
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