Predictable and sentimental, Il Terzo Tempo, the movie about a boy saved by rugby made me cry in the end. If anybody else there at the Venice Film Festival left the Sala Grande like me, sniffling and putting on her sunglasses to avoid looking foolish, I can’t say, but the applause was warm and appreciative never-the-less.
Director Enrico Maria Artale tells the story of Samuel, played by Lorenzo Richelmy, in and out of juvie and on his way to doing hard time. His mother is a drug addict and he never knew his father, so when his parole officer, an ex-rugby star played by Stefano Cassetti, gives him the chance to play on his rugby team, he’s able get a little of his aggression out of his system and discover the value of working with a team.
There’s a love story thrown in for the girls, one that makes no sense at all but lets Lorenzo Richelmy play kissy face with the very pretty Margherita Laterza, who plays the coach’s daughter. One of my favorite actresses, Stefania Rocca, is in it too, playing the daughter of the team’s founder and I honestly don’t know what she was doing in the movie at all. And there’s Marco’s son Pierluigi Bellocchio in a cameo role as an opposing team’s coach.
Does Italy like rugby? I don’t know, but I do know that a rugby team was a better choice than calcio, soccer, because the game and practice scenes are really good, showing the physical explosions on a field with boys and their testosterone going to work in a rough, hard-hitting game.
And in the end when, as we knew it would, everything turns out great, I was happy. It’s better than a made for TV sports movie and not as good as The Longest Yard, but it was fun, and it was pretty authentic when it came to the sports.
I Love Italian Everything 