Men al dente

With the whimsical summer comedy "Men al dente", Italian-Turkish director Ferzan Ozpetek tells a family story of a very special kind. At the center of the chaotic events is Tommaso Cantone (Riccardo Scarmacio), who has been carrying a secret for years. But now Tommaso finally wants to break his silence and confess to his family that he is gay. Too bad that his brother Antonio (Alesandro Preziosi) beats him to the punch with exactly the same confession, sending his father Vincenzo (Ennio Fantastichini) to the hospital with a heart attack. It's clear that Tommaso doesn't want to reveal any more bad news at this point, so the young man continues to keep quiet.

Although he dreams of becoming a writer and therefore secretly studies literature rather than economics as his parents would have liked, Tommaso maintains his framework of lies for the benefit of his father and begins to take care of the family pasta production. But with each passing day, it becomes more difficult for Tommaso to play the heterosexual poster boy. And when his partner from Rome shows up in the small town of Lecce with some gay friends in tow, the chaos is perfect...

"Männer al dente" is as much a family comedy as it is a biting social critique, a film about passion and rebellion against outdated moral concepts. With charming actors and wonderful landscape shots, it is almost impossible not to indulge in this light good-mood pleasure. However, most of the time the action remains a little too superficial and the gags too clichéd that you're left with a somewhat bland feeling in the end. A little more spice and especially the courage to be provocative would have done the film good in places. Some scenes that could have been really meaningful in themselves seem too arbitrary.

In addition, some plot elements are touched upon that are never brought to a conclusion. For instance, the way Tommaso meets his new colleague and ally Alba (Nicole Grimaudo). While Alba's actions, which Tommaso observes, are amusing, the motivations behind them are never explained. What makes up for such admittedly minor flaws are such wonderful moments as the appearance of Tommaso's friends. This sequence is undoubtedly the comedic highlight of the film and provides quite a few really good laughs.

So, on balance, "Männer al dente" is a little too harmless, but good entertainment that makes the perfect program for a balmy summer evening. Absolutely recommended for lovers of loosely light European comedies!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp