Nanni Moretti directs and stars in this small-scale Italian drama, which won the Palm d'or at Cannes that year. It seems like a pretty poor choice, in my opinion. It's not a bad movie, really, but it's pretty unambitious. It strikes me as a lot like your average American indie drama. Moretti stars as a psychologist who has a great relationship with his loving family (wife Laura Morante, daughter Jasmine Trinca and son Giuseppe Sanfelice). The first half hour of the film is comprised of telling us how content they are - thirty to thirty-five minutes of this boring family sitting around loving each other. Unnecessary. One scene would have sufficed. Then the big tragedy happens: the son drowns in a scuba diving accident. The rest of the film is just about the other three dealing with it. It's all fine, I suppose, but, really, there's not much insight into the situation - certainly nothing we haven't seen before. The only plot point that occurs during the final hour of the film has to do with a secret girlfriend whom Sanfelice has left behind (Sofia Vigliar), who eventually shows up at their door. One of the bigger problems the film has is Moretti's performance - he's really weak. Morante and Trinca are pretty good, however.
Review of The Son's Room
