bkoganbing
Macaroni casts Jack Lemmon as an American businessman on a trip to Naples, his first since World War II when he traveled on a group rate and probably landed at Salerno. The Neapolitan women were most grateful to the Americans for liberation, most grateful indeed.Over 40 years go by and Lemmon now a successful businessman is on business in Naples and he's greeted in his hotel room by an old friend he doesn't recognize. Marcello Mastroianni is at first dismissed when Lemmon doesn't recognize him, but the picture he leaves of Lemmon and his sister does the trick.With some trepidation Lemmon seeks out Mastroianni's family and finds the sister now a matronly grandmother. Naturally he was expecting some unknown offspring, but her's can all be attributed to the husband she later married. Mastroianni is a dreamer and a dramatist of sorts. He's involved with what we would in America call a stock company as he writes and directs and stars in little dramas of his own. In one we see him as an Italian version of Snidely Whiplash. And he's created a whole drama around Lemmon as he wrote letters in Lemmon's name recounting a life that some pulp fiction hero would have envied. You can imagine Lemmon's reaction when he learns of his other life.Pretty soon Lemmon is sucked into the family and as things aren't going well in his personal life in America, he's soon involved with the whole family. The end however is bitter sweet.Macaroni is essentially a two person film with no real flushing out of any of the other characters played by actors and actresses unknown to American audiences. Lemmon and Mastroianni are good together though nothing like Lemmon and Matthau, but who was?It's an easy to take film goes better with a glass of red wine.
Johntechwriter
The conceit of this odd little film is that to experience family love the late-middle-aged American man must return whence he found it -- to Italy of course!The score is lovely but the sound quality execrable. The comedy hits Americans sideways but the location shots of Naples are breathtaking. (What can Florence be like?) The storyline is all over the place but then it doesn't matter because we are spellbound by every scene where Lemmon and Mastroianni are together. Both are at the top of their form, not out of any sense of competing, but rather out of respect -- to their characters, to their director, and to each other.Lemmon is the most restrained I've ever seen him. His tendency to be seen working is quelled, perhaps, by Mastroianni's generous willingness to cede the center of the stage.So what we have is a little movie with a somewhat pretentious theme that nevertheless, because of its idiosyncrasies and contradictions, and especially because of the performances of its leads, is well worth viewing.
happipuppi13
I recently came across a copy of this film on a very old VHS/rental copy,which I bought at Goodwill. #1.99. It's age of course made it jumpy in some scenes but otherwise it looked picture perfect in terms of color. The movie itself is a wonderful discovery and like most films I'd never heard of,it turned out to be totally worth the time invested to watch it. The set up is simple but the idea of a man consoling his sister for 40 years in getting over the departure of her WW 2 romance is priceless.Lemmon's character,due to the exaggerated letters written with his name signed to them,has become a legendary figure in Naples. So upon his return visit he's astounded how everyone seems to know him,despite never meeting him,before. The overall story is a series of what seem like unrelated events but they seem to fit the story well. Also,upon first viewing it seems like this is a lost 1970s Jack Lemmon movie but was made in 1985 actually. The old look of Naples may be the cause of that because i searched the box looking for the date of release. Overall,I found it not wildly funny but funny in a more dry humored, offbeat and even surreal sense. Surreal because I doubt any of the odder things that happen here could happen for real. Which is the key ingredient in making this enjoyable,as well as it's two big name stars.10 out of 10! Voila! (END)
Coxer99
Two incredible actors team up for this tender film about two World War II buddies who are reunited in modern day Naples only to find that Antonio (Mastroianni)has been forging letters to his sister from Robert (Lemmon) since the war ended. It was his way of helping her forget the American who left her behind. Worth viewing for the fantastic chemistry between both stars.
AD
