L'ultimo bacio

Gabriele Muccino's romantic comedy is an excellent piece of filmmaking. What stands out most about this movie is the pacing, the editing and the stylish intercutting of the various plots. What's most surprising about the film is how little the writer/director injects his own ethical judgments into the action.

One might argue that the whole movie disapproves of the universal infidelity portrayed, but there are several sequences in the movie that call this into question. Muccino seems to enjoy most poking fun at everyone's hypocrisy, and this is always great to watch, especially with an expressive, passionate Italian cast. The film stars some of Ita;y's finest actors including Stefano Accorsi, Pierfrancesco Favino, Giorgio Pasotti, Sabrina Impacciatore, Giovanna Mezzogiorno and Stefania Sandrelli, whilst introducing the young and beautiful Martina Stella.

The movie has just enough of a traditional romantic centre to make it all hang together, and yet a great enough diversity of characters to make a wide range of witty points.