Purely Joyful Movie!

Dreadfully Boring

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Don't miss this cozy film about life with ordinary adults but guess what, they show us that we can be extraordinary and beautiful.I wanted to be part of the lives portrayed - - if not a full-time member of this little society at least part-time.I loved the late, great Jerry Orbach and Gianni Di Gregorio is the Italian Jerry Orbach. Wonderful portrayal of a human living to be his best.Enough edge and anticipation to make the movie realistic. A wonderful story of people who want to live and know how to live right.Beautiful light, great direction and cinematography.Go on! Brave the sub-titles. It's worth every second.

Ordinarily I praise minimalism without reservation, but with Mid-August Lunch I must protest: It's too short (75 minutes) because the elderly ladies are precious and meant to be expanded as characters. This short-story like drama depicts a middle-aged man, Giani (played charmingly by writer/director Gianni Di Gregorio), babysitting four lively ladies mostly in their eighties.Not much happens, a characteristic of minimalism, except an AWOL and attempted seduction by the randiest and most youthful of the ladies. Otherwise, Giani goes to the local bodega to buy supplies and imbibe wine while he girds himself for the day of his charges.It's all pleasant, local color with a hint of a theme about the dignity of the elderly and the importance of memory.

"Pranzo di ferragosto" is one delightful, insightful, funny and unpretentious little cinematic jewel, whose director, script writer and main actor, Gianni DiGregorio, proves to us that it doesn't take a huge budget, big stars, lots of witty dialogs or 120 minutes to make a masterpiece, and one which goes back to the golden age of the Italian comedy and Italian realism.The story is very simple: Gianni, a middle-aged Roman who lives with his mother in an old Trastevere apartment, is first kind of "blackmailed" by his landlord to take the the latter's mother at his home for the Italian midsummer holiday. He gets more than he bargained for when the mother is accompanied by an unannounced aunt and when later his doctor also asks him to take his mother, in addition to Gianni's own mamma, of course. Each of the old ladies has her own personality, quirks, preferences, etc. and Gianni will have to do his best to keep them all happy. This will lead to a wholly enjoyable 75-minute ride for the viewer.One thing that I loved about this movie is that it depicts old age in a respectful, humorous and optimistic light -the old ladies are not at all old in mentality and spirit, and they keep enjoying life to the most, each in her own style. I also enjoyed how the film is full of little sketches of very real everyday situations in which we can all see ourselves -sitting with a friend without needing or having any life-changing conversation, looking out to the city while smoking a cigarette, sitting with your family or people you care for, sharing a dinner, having small talk, the joy of reunion and togetherness and the joy of having a home... those scenes were very heart-moving and very meaningful to me.My rating is 10/10 for a new instant favorite of mine.

We saw this gem of a small movie at our local preview club. What a gem! If you're looking for big-issue movies or blockbusters, forget this one. This is a simple, very Italian story about a man who lives with and takes care of his mother, and the surprising joy he, mama, and their new friends receive during the Italian holiday of "ferragosto," when everyone who's anyone leaves Rome on holiday.In fact, having spent a good deal of time in Rome, I can say with confidence that this movie is more than just Italian. It's as Roman as the Forum, Piazza Navona, or Giolitti's ice cream.The cast, largely filled by non-professionals, is wonderful, sweet, and very real. Our "hero," if you can call him that, wonderfully played by director and writer Gianni de Gregorio, has the perfect puzzled and world-weary face for this (non-)journey in the Roman mid-summer heat. He's reminiscent of Jerry Orbach with a major Italian shrug.There's nothing trite here, and nothing not to love.