Umberto Contarello Movies

Fifty-year-old retired goth rocker Cheyenne (Sean Penn) travels from London to New York to visit his dying father, and then journeys across the United States on a mission to seek revenge against the elusive ex-Nazi war criminal who persecuted his dad in Auschwitz. Despondent after two of his young fans commit suicide, Cheyenne retreats to his Dublin mansion and begins living off of his royalties alongside his down-to-earth wife Jane (Frances McDormand). Later, he receives word that his father is dying in New York City. Although they haven't spoken in 30 years, he boards the first available flight to bid his dad farewell. Unfortunately, Cheyenne arrives too late. Upon reconnecting with his cousin Richard (Liron Levo), however, the morose musician learns that his father, a Holocaust survivor, had been tracking Auschwitz guard Aloise Lange (Heinz Lieven) around America for decades. Filled with ennui yet determined not to let Lange escape unpunished, Cheyenne vows to pick up the mission his father left uncompleted. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A handful of semi-professional musicians struggle to make a name for themselves in this nostalgic comedy-drama set in Italy in the mid-seventies. Faustino (Antimo Merolillo) is a would-be jazz guitarist who has just graduated from school and is looking for a gig, at least in part because he's trying to avoid the military draft. If he can get local promoter Raffaele (Ernesto Mahieux) to sign him to a contract, Faustino can tell the draft board that he's a professional supporting his widowed mother with his career in music, but getting Raffaele to make a deal is proving difficult. Faustino plays part time with a local band led by hard-drinking Mimmo Falasco (Toni Servillo), but when Augusto Riverberi (Fabrizio Bentivoglio), a once-famous bandleader looking to make a comeback, arrives in town, Raffaele pulls some strings and gets Faustino a job as Riverberi's assistant. In need of a singer, Faustino and Raffaele persuade Riverberi to hire a vocalist named Gerry Como (Peppe Servillo), and the first few dates of the tour go well as Riverberi entertains the crowds and juggles romances with Faustino's mother (Lina Sastri) and a lovely small-town hairdresser (Valeria Golino). But when Raffaele double-crosses Riverberi and runs off with the band's money, Faustino begins to wonder if he'll ever make good as a musician. Lascia Perdere, Johnny! (aka Don't Waste Your Time, Johnny!) was the first directorial credit for veteran actor Fabrizio Bentivoglio, who also co-stars as the bandleader Riverberi. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Francesco Calogero directs this crime thriller about erratic behavior brought on by a tedious, stressful job. Irascible Paolo (Diego Abatantuono) constantly clashes with his fellow security guards. One night, after loudly arguing with someone else, Paolo discovers one of his colleagues shot dead in front of the home of a gorgeous Russian woman (Anna Safroncik) -- the same woman whom he has been quietly stalking for months. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Based on a true-life court case that rocked Italy during the 1980s, this film recounts the tribulations of Enzo Tortora, a popular television host who was wrongfully imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

The English title of this complex Italian film is apt. Featuring 65 main characters and 130 speaking parts (famous faces abound and many of the actors appeared gratis), and ranging in tone from tartly humorous to darkly tragic, it presents 30 interwoven slices from the lives of modern day Romans during a single day. The lone, silent figure of a lone jogger provides a sort of continuity between the vignettes. Beginning at sunset of the previous day, the jogger is seen warming up on his apartment terrace, looking for all the world as if he would like to jump. The rest of the stories seem to be randomly presented. Stories include the robbery of a Chinese restaurant that causes a birthday celebrant to die of fright, two different newlyweds who find themselves attracted to each other, an opportunistic mechanic's plan to capitalize on the death of a rival, a sneaky, sadistic meter maid and others. One uniting feature of the stories is their underlying bitter assessment of modern humanity. People are seen as selfish and basically cruel, still the stories move quickly and the balance between humor and drama, affection and cynicism, and shallowness and complexity is carefully maintained. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This Italian comedy takes a sharp poke at the corruption inherent in Italy's political circles and big businesses. Ecological crime correspondent Giuseppe has just been divorced and now, since a major corporation has taken over the independent television station where he works, may be out of a job. To save money, he moves into the apartment of Riccardo, a carabiniere officer. Both of them end up entangled with the lovely Sandra, who works as the personal secretary to the politician who controls the country's biggest toxic waste operation, Nautilus. The politico Giulivi is a sly fox and Giuseppe's investigation into Nautilus reveals that it is Sandra, not Giulivi who has been named the president. But Sandra is a ditz, and swears that she knows nothing of her boss's illicit activities. She convinces the two roommates to help clear her name and to bring her an important computer disk that can prove everything. The two fellows indeed help her, but as soon as she gets that disk, she uses it to drain Giulivi's secret Swiss bank account. Now all three of them are pursued by the angry crook's henchmen. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This feel-good movie, which offers American audiences spectacular views of Central European landscapes, uses gentle humor to tell the story of two common men who place themselves in an uncommon situation. Franco, a recently laid-off co-op stud farmer whose company jilted him out of his settlement money, returns to break into the main offices to look for proof that he was wronged. Instead he ends up stealing their prize bull Corinto with the thought of selling Corinto for a great profit in Hungary. Franco enlists the aid of his quiet friend Loris. Together the three set off on their obstacle-filled journey. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi