The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Megghy(Martina Melino) is fourteen going on fifteen, just a shade older than Tracy Freeland(Evan Rachel Wood) in Catherine Hardwicke's "Thirteen". When it comes to sex, both girls are light years ahead of Liesel Von Trapp(Charmaine Carr), who was "sixteen going on seventeen", as Rolf(Daniel Truhitte) serenades this forewarning to the chaste girl under a full moon, set to the gilded music of Richard Rodgers: "Totally unprepared are you/to face a world of men/Timid and shy and scared are you/of things beyond your ken," in Robert Wise's "The Sound of Music". Rolf may only have been "seventeen going on eighteen", but the future storm-trooper sounds frightfully more mature than Melanie Freeland(Holly Hunter), or Stefania(Stefania Montorso), who is thirty going backwards, when she tells her niece, "I don't want to be a normal, old aunt. I want to be your friend," in "Dillo con parole mie", perhaps the first post-"Kids" movie that doesn't go through the motions of treating an underaged girl's sex drive as being the least bit shocking. The filmmaker frames Megghy's preternatural sexual development around a light-hearted farce in the sunny environs of los in Cyclades, an island off mainland Greece, and normalizes the potentially hairy situation(in the Larry Clarke film, the Chloe Sevigny character contracts the HIV-virus), by pairing the young girl up with a narcissistic aunt who gives her advice instead of admonishments.As aunt and niece depart from the boat in the harbor, Stefania first learns about Megghy's plan to lose her virginity with some random guy, because the former girl scout who ditched her troop at the bus station, wants to be practiced for that other first time; with some boy she is actually in love with. To be fair, Stefania's judgment could very well be clouded, having just broken up with her longtime beau Andrea(Giampolo Morreli), but nevertheless, she misses the irony of her proclamation on her niece's venture to come-of-age as being "too big of a responsibility." The irony being: the aunt avoids taking any responsibility for the potential ramifications of Megghy's sex adventure, when she acts as a sister figure to her niece, rather than a surrogate mother, who in that capacity, would tell the young girl to wait, before dragging her back on the boat. But Stephania wants to be a girl(in her own words, "a friend"), and girls just want to have fun. Dressed in a two-piece bathing suit, Megghy has a figure that recalls Michelle Johnson in Stanley Donen's "Blame it on Rio", but Stefania lets it go, even though her niece is properly attired for a "porn star convention". It's not the bikini that she's reacting to; it's the girl's breasts. At the topless beach, "Dillo con parole mie" creates for the viewer, a torn feeling of wanting to see the bikini come off, and the awareness that the girl is a minor. When Andrea(who happens to be at the same resort as Stephania in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall"-like fashion) sees Megghy in that bikini, he's torn too; he echoes his ex's quip about the porn star convention. Not only does "Dillo con parole mie" compel the viewer into anticipating a round of statutory rape between Andrea and the lolita, the film is hopelessly contrived in keeping Stefania and Andrea apart, on what the latter describes as a small island. Reunited, after Megghy mistakenly believes that Andrea is dead, the film celebrates their reunion to the hilt with a high-spirited, but insipid musical number aboard a bus, which provides an inadequate suture for the fact that Andrea would have deflowered Megghy, had he not passed out in the tent. Stefania never realizes what a poor role model she was for her niece. But Megghy understands her aunt's failings; she tells her, "And you gave me too much freedom. Act like my aunt."Act like that nice Nazi boy Rolf, who croons to Liesl, "Baby, it's time to think/Better beware, be canny and careful/Baby, you're on the brink." "Dillo con parole mie" is a chick flick that pretends to be sensitive; it's like a chick flick with a d***. At the heart of "Dillo con parole mie" is a semiotic riptide of girly banter and camaraderie, and ripe melons.

Superb. Simply superb. This film has a way of making you relate to each one of the main characters in a witty, funky and delightful way. It manages to make a point without taking itself too seriously. It takes place on the Island of Ios in the Cyclades...and somehow, for the two hours you are watching, you feel like you're there! It becomes your story. After watching it, I always feel so elated and happy (which is rare, I assure you). I hope this director continues to make films, as her perspective is refreshing, entertaining and enlightening. I'm very excited to see what else she comes up with. As a side note, the soundtrack is also wonderful. I wish it was more readily available.

Dillo con parole mie (Ginger and Cinnamon) is a fantastic little Italian film about learning to love people's foibles. A woman's niece tricks her into a vacation on a Greek island, on a quest to be deflowered at any cost. She zeroes in on a cute local baker...who happens to be connected by far fewer than six degrees of separation. Wackiness ensues. I also first saw this movie at the Open Roads film festival, though without the director present. I saw it with my best friend, and it's been a special little film between us since then- we even sing the song from the end (it's Ta-ra-ta-ta by Mina). Stefania Montorsi is brilliant, so much so that it makes you wonder how much the character of STEFY might be based on reality. "Megghy" can be a little annoying at times, but in a way that is so perfectly natural in her role. This is definitely a chick film, but so original. The boys are charming as they go along for the ride. I'm lucky (or spoiled!) because I also speak Italian and can get even more out of it, but I recommend it even if you stick to the English (or whatever language) subtitles.

This movie was very good. I watched it a few weeks ago and couldn't help myself from watching it again last night. I love the way that they portray Italian's. Free, crazy, loving, confused... all the things that people truly are. Here in America we tend to forget that people in other countries are just that... people... this shows a lot about men and the way they are with women. at first, the ex wouldn't even look at the niece, but then, after her persistence, he gives in, even giving her a kiss on her cheeks when she shows up the one day. i also love the way the family is together. when megghy finds out who he is at her b-day party, she grabs the aunt by her hair and goes to knee her in the face. it is just funny how expressive Italian's are... i should know... my mother was born in Italy...