New Int'l. Release

Her Whole Life Ahead of Her

Tutta la vita davanti (Italy)

By JAY WEISSBERG

A Medusa Film release of a Medusa Film, Motorino Amaranto production, in association with Sky. Produced by Daniele Mazzocca. Directed by Paolo Virzi. Screenplay, Francesco Bruni, Virzi, Michela Murgia, freely inspired by Murgia's book "Il mondo deve sapere."
 
With: Isabella Ragonese, Sabrina Ferilli, Massimo Ghini, Valerio Mastandrea, Elio Germano, Micaela Ramazzotti, Mary Cipolla, Tatiana Farnese, Caterina Guzzanti, Valentina Carneluti, Paola Tiziana Cruciani, Niccolo Senni.
Narrator: Laura Morante.
 

Hands down one of the best Italian comedies of recent years, "Her Whole Life Ahead of Her" playfully mixes true-to-life types with over-the-top characters for a believable laff-fest that's insightful while maintaining breakneck comic pacing. Helmer/co-scripter Paolo Virzi strikes gold with this sharp and witty satire on telemarketing and gross business practices, reserving enough affection for everyone without dulling the pic's bite. Brilliantly cast, with star-making performances that defy previous typecasting, this blast of fresh air should have a whole life ahead of it, even on international screens. Remake potential is considerable.

Pic opened well March 28, but local B.O. -- $5.6 million in six weeks -- has been good rather than great.

Irresistible opening tips its hat to early musicals, as protag Marta (Isabella Ragonese, a real find) imagines fellow bus passengers singing and dancing along to the Beach Boys' "I Get Around." Marta's just received top honors for her thesis, a brainy discussion on Heidegger that wows her profs but doesn't open any doors.

With all her college dropout friends gainfully employed, Marta's frustrations are veering into mild depression. A chance encounter with a little girl and her slutty, spectacularly unqualified mom, Sonia (Micaela Ramazzotti), leads her to the outskirts of Rome and a part-time job as babysitter. Sonia encourages Marta to join her as a telemarketer at Multiple, a home-appliances company fostering a distinctly American style of motivational exercises and cutthroat sales techniques.

Daniela (Sabrina Ferilli) is commandant of the telemarketing women, a tight-skinned, hard-nosed beauty of a certain age. She's an instantly recognizable Italian type, and Ferilli, previously known for throwaway roles in embarrassing Christmas comedies, is a revelation. Thesp takes the outrageous character -- first glimpsed leading her charges in a high-energy motivational sing-along -- and makes her real without toning down the excesses.

That Ragonese holds her own against such a powerhouse perf is a tribute to her quiet, warm-blooded style. Previously seen only in a small role in "Golden Door," she displays an Amy Adams-like sensibility in making Marta believable both as an intellectual powerhouse and the girl next door.

Incongruously taking to her new job like a fish to water, Marta soon bridles at the company's cold-blooded policies and pairs up with union organizer Giorgio (Valerio Mastandrea), until she realizes his naive methods won't help much on the ground.

Together with regular script collaborator Francesco Bruni ("Caterina in the Big City"), Virzi sets this all on the outer edges of Rome, where new industrial parks feel generically fabricated from some cookie-cutter conception of modern business style. Pic becomes more than simply a comical expose of call centers, but a biting critique of a very non-Italian form of rampant capitalism.

Characters speak in the rapid-fire delivery of screwball comedies, especially Elio Germano (seemingly in every other Italo pic recently) in the small role of a crazed salesman caught up in the company's punishing methods.

Lensed by Terry Gilliam's regular d.p., Nicola Pecorini, "Her Whole Life Ahead of Her" has an appropriately sunny gloss that mirrors the kind of phony facade exemplified by Daniela's wide-mouthed smiles. Camerawork is sharp, expertly edited by Esmeralda Calabria to take advantage of the bouncy musical score.

Also deserving kudos is costume designer Francesca Sartori, who certainly knows the kinds of character she's dressing. Laura Morante's narration is perfectly calibrated, like a knowing adult recitation of a fairy tale without any patronizing.

Camera (color, widescreen), Nicola Pecorini; editor, Esmeralda Calabria; music, Franco Piersanti; production designer, Davide Bassan; costume designer, Francesca Sartori; sound (Dolby Digital), Mario Iaquone, Alberto Doni; casting, Gianluca Greco. Reviewed at Cinema Adriano, Rome, March 31, 2008. Running time: 117 MIN.