An Exercise In Nonsense

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Il Mostro by the Italian master, Roberto Benigni, is his funniest among some very funny movies. The earlier comment to watch it in Italian with subtitles is essential. Some of the humour, both spoken and physical slapstick is a little hard at first for North Americans. Once you fall into the Italian sense of humour it will have you on the floor, Roberto Benigni is the twenty first century's Charlie Chaplin. It is optimum for enjoyment if you have lived in Italy, but not required. Go to Italy afterwards! Like Felleni and the Bertolucci brothers, Benigni reflects a lot of what is intrinsically Italian.Il Mostro is about a mix up, but what comedy is not, it is really about Roberto, the words, the way the words are said, the body gestures and his mastery of playing. You can fall in love with his visual poetry... then learn Italian. I also recommend the unsung, underrated, Son of Pink Panther, it gives a new twist to the Sellers' humour. It's all that Sellers was and more, this is the true successor to the Pink Panther series! If you like the style of Il Mostro then try the earlier Johnny Stecchino, it is classic Benigni as well!

"Il Mostro" is a slapsticky romcom about a little unemployed man, Loris (Benigni), who is thought to be a serial sex killer who dismembers his victims. So, it is no surprise when a dinner guest see Loris stumbling toward her from the kitchen with a meat cleaver in his raised hand and a flashlight protruding under the crotch of his pants that she faints. "The Monster" is one long series of such obvious setups with predictable comical outcomes glued together with a meager story involving Loris and a beautiful cop who is out to prove him a sex fiend. Reminiscent of old school visual comics like Charlie Chaplin or Jerry Lewis, Benigni clowns it up in this unsophisticated mildly sexy Italian romp which should be a fun watch for anyone into sight gags and outrageous or ridiculous contrived but predictable situations. (B-)

What an excellent movie 'Il Mostro' is! It is absolutely certain that it will destroy you from the first moment.Make sure you watch it in Italian audio though. A lot of Benigni's (as of course any other actor's) performance comes out of projecting his lines and Benigni always sounds hilarious.And don't expect to see 'scary movie' here. This is quality comedy, with great script and a genius actor.Don't miss it!9/10

Not at all like "Life is Beautiful", but entertaining and uproarious at times. It is a pity that Benigni films are not more readily available worldwide (outside Italy), in particular "Non ci resta che piangere" AKA "Nothing to do but cry" is a Benigni gem that is perhaps the best of all his films but nearly impossible to find. "Il Mostro", now available in the US, offers moments of comic genius and is altogether worthwhile to watch. My rating: 8.5/10