What can I say? I have to be honest.
Alessandro Genovesi’s sequel to La Peggior Settimana Della Mia Vita, possibly the worst Italian comedy I’ve ever seen, is marginally less unfunny, .5% at my estimate. In La Peggior Settimana, Paolo and Margherita get married, and in this one, Il Peggior Natale Della Mia Vita (The Worst Christmas of my life), it’s Christmas time and Margherita is about to give birth.
It’s possible that I more easily accept the idiotic jokes and the ridiculous premise of this classic example of “so bad it’s good” Cinepanettone (Italian Christmas movie), because it is, in fact, Cinepanettone and that’s what you expect from Cinepanettone (it’s not a reason but it’s the only one I have). I did laugh, I’ll have to admit it, at a couple of Paolo and Margherita’s Christmas misadventures, but I’m not proud of it. I refuse to write about the parts in which I was somewhat amused because, well, you’d think I was a moron.
Let’s just say that it doesn’t take a moron to see all of the movies dumb jokes coming a mile away. In the first 10 minutes anyone with half a brain will see that the birthing pool, the turkey, the canary, and the parquet floors are all destined for trouble, and that the humor surrounding them will be as broad as a billboard sign. Maybe that’s half the fun? “Ohhhhh, I see where this is going…”, you think to yourself when the house’s lights go out and the pantry (the turkey’s in there inside a big white ceramic pot) is confused for the bathroom. And this could only happen to Paolo, because he’s such a (loveable?) buffoon.
It will be interesting for Americans followers of Cinepanettone who manage to get their hands on Il Peggior Natale to note its Americanization of Cinepanettone. There’s the stuffing of the 50 pound turkey (which everyone in the family thinks is disgusting) and the roaster sent from a friend in the US. Everyone’s line-dancing to English language Christmas songs with all of the Italians singing in cute Italian accents. And 20 years ago it would have been the presepe (nativity scene) that was destined for disaster and not a Christmas tree. Or maybe not. Maybe Cinepanettone has always left religion out of it.
The actors, especially Cristina Capotondi, Anna Bonaiuto, and Antonio Catania, are better than this, and I don’t hate Fabio De Luigi. He’s just not very funny. And I think it’s important to be funny in a comedy, but what do I know?
I Love Italian Everything 