Franco Amurri Movies
A young girl secretly adopts a runaway monkey only to have to deal with the simian's mischief-making tendencies in this family comedy. Young Eva (Thora Birch)'s dreams of having a pet are frustrated by the objections of her mother (Mimi Rogers) and allergic stepfather (Christopher McDonald). When she finds a stray capuchin monkey, she cannot resist it, and she keeps the animal -- which she names Dodger -- hidden in her room. Eva doesn't know that Dodger has just escaped from an evil organ grinder named Azro (Harvey Keitel, playing a regrettable Gypsy stereotype), who had trained the monkey to become an accomplished pickpocket. Old habits prove hard to break, and Dodger begins stealing everything in sight, landing Eva in plenty of trouble. Her problems are only compounded by the actions of the unscrupulous Azro, who wants to find Dodger and use him as part of an important robbery. The standard misunderstandings and slapstick comedy ensue, with the spunky Eva struggling to protect her new pet and herself. While probably too predictable to appeal to many adults, Monkey Trouble's skillful animal antics and resourceful young heroine may prove entertaining to youngsters. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi
- Starring:
- Finster, Thora Birch, (more)
A yuppie and a hippie are the offbeat pairing of this character comedy in the tradition of earlier mismatched buddy films such as Midnight Run (1988). Kiefer Sutherland is uptight, 26-year-old FBI agent John Buckner, who's been assigned to escort an aging counterculture radical named Huey Walker (Dennis Hopper) to Oregon for trial on a charge that's decades old. Buckner finds Huey's lifestyle and beliefs irresponsible. Once the two are bound for their Pacific Northwest destination, Huey begins to play psychological mind games with the straight-arrow Buckner, convincing him that he's tripping on hallucinogenic drugs, getting him drunk, and setting him up with a hooker named Sparkle (Kathleen York). Huey trades places with his captor and soon a game of cat-and-mouse is afoot as the agent pursues the one-time radical, with surprising revelations abounding regarding Buckner's childhood and Huey's motivations for allowing himself to be captured. Flashback also stars Carol Kane, Cliff De Young, Richard Masur, Michael McKean, and Paul Dooley. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dennis Hopper, Kiefer Sutherland, (more)
- 1988
Before Penny Marshall brought Big to the big screen, an Italian director, Franco Amurri, released this body-changing movie. In his story, Marco (Ioska Versari) is a bedwetter whose mother scolds him one time too often, and his classmates tease him one time too often. The finishing touch is that his father neglects to bring him a Lego set for his birthday. He promptly puts all his heart into wishing he were big and not subject to these indignities. The result is that he bursts through his clothes in the guise of a middle-aged man (Renato Pozzetto) and seeks refuge in the house of his former schoolteacher. Mentally, he is still eight years old, and it's a puzzle what to do with him until someone discovers that he has an uncanny rapport with children. Then he becomes a full-time babysitter -- at least, until he is suspected of abducting the by-now long-missing child Marco. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Renato Pozzetto, Giulia Boschi, (more)
- 1986
In this typical teen comedy with all the elements of humor and romance that pander to the younger set, first-time director Franco Amurri looks at the trials and tribulations of a young man who cannot find a job (Jerry Cala). After he is rejected right and left, the just-graduated teen finally finds work with the "Pony Express," a privatized mail service that helps fill in the chinks in Italy's national postal system. He hotrods around town on a motor scooter he bought with purloined funds (he stole a young woman's purse), and he is intrigued by a dashing, wealthy young woman who goes about in a red riding outfit. The question is how will Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf get together? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jerry Calà, Isabella Ferrari, (more)
