This is one of those old-fashioned screwball comedies that Hollywood may have given up on, but seemingly is still a film genre that has a place in Italian cinema
This is the tale of a 60-ish-year-old Jewish psychoanalyst Elio (Toni Servillo) who is so bored with most of his patients that he is quietly tucking into pastries whilst pretending to listen to their chronicles of woes. He works and lives in the center of Rome in an apartment adjoining that of Giovanna (Carla Signoris) his ex-wife who he has yet to realize that he is still secretly in love with.
The pastries, however, have taken a toll on him and his Doctor warns that if he doesn’t start getting in to shape soon, there will be dire consequences to his health. He very reluctantly checks out a gym which is more like some sort of high-energy disco than a suitable environment for a man his age to work out. However, it does lead him to meet Claudia (Verónica Echegui) a very bubbly vivacious personal trainer who persuades Elia to hire her.
They make an unlikely pair thrown together for the necessity for as much as he needs to start getting fit, she too is desperate for the money he pays her. At first, the relationship is purely businesslike until one day he asks her to accompany him to a formal function so he can impress his colleagues by having such a pretty young woman on his arm. Claudia’s own life, however, is complicated, to say the least as her current beau a young thug Ettore (Luca Marinelli) is in prison and when he breaks out he involves both her and Elia to help him find some stolen property he hid and can’t remember where.
The storyline is quite silly but at the same time also quite endearing thanks mainly to the rather inspired pairing of the very droll veteran Servillo who turns out to be quite the comic genius, and the extremely effervescent Echegui who simply charms the pants off everyone.
This is a very entertaining movie, complete with a happy ending, and is light-hearted fare that will probably be quite a crowd pleaser here in the US as it was back in Italy . Especially with silver-haired men looking for a second lease on life.
