Pranzo di ferragosto 2008

Kevin B. Lee, Time Out: It's like watching John Cassavetes trapped in a mega-episode of The Golden Girls. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Not much happens in this wisp of a movie (it's barely 75 minutes), and not much is necessary; it's all about finding a mood and letting it sneak up and envelop the watcher. Read more

Keith Phipps, AV Club: It's a trifle, but a trifle that sticks. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: The movie is a perfect blend of calm execution and uninflected farce. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: A tasty tidbit of a film, Mid-August Lunch is one of those movies where almost nothing happens but it happens quite nicely. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: The droll Mid-August is a tribute to the gentle skills of Italian filmmaker Gianni Di Gregorio, who not only wrote and directed this unhurried chamber piece but also starred in it as a character he named after himself. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: You'd have trouble finding another movie with such unforced appreciation of its elderly characters or such intelligent understanding of old age. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Mid-August Lunch is a sweet-spirited gem, warmly comic while showing the hassles of caring for aging relatives more honestly than 10 family sagas from Hollywood. Read more

Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Charming but insignificant. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: A droll geriatric comedy set during a Roman holiday in the heat of summer. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: A simple and endlessly charming look at a weekend in the life of an uncomplicated middle-aged man living with his aging mama. Read more

Dave Calhoun, Time Out: Underlying this amiable, thoughtful film is an assumption that age should bring with it respect - and however exasperated he gets, Gianni abides by this code completely. Read more

Ella Taylor, Village Voice: The only whiff of passion comes from the sadistic care that has gone into putting garish clothes and makeup on the mother, which give her the ghoulish air of Jeanne Moreau in a fun-house mirror. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: If Mid-August Lunch were a meal instead of a movie, it would be something light and quick, but not entirely unsatisfying. A green salad with a couple pieces of grilled shrimp on top, say. Read more