Avanti (1972)

Synopsis: Jack Lemmon stars as a grumpy businessman who really doesn’t like to travel…no, that’s the Synopsis for The Out of Towners. Um… stubborn American learns the hard way that it’s not so easy to move men and supplies from Point A to Point B in Italy….no, that’s Anzio. Um… confused son discovers shocking truth about his father. Nope, that’s The Empire Strikes Back. 

Blurb From the DVD Jacket: “Italy was full of surprises!” 

What Did I Learn?: Italy is not a country - it’s an emotion. 

You Might Like This Movie If: You're in the mood to learn some Italian. 

Really?: 1) If Wendell is such an important hotshot in the family business, why does he personally fly to Italy to claim his father’s corpse? Couldn’t he have sent somebody else? 2) Yelling at the Italian passport control officer….that’s a greaaaaaaat idea… 3) I wonder whose bright idea it was to create a two-and-a-half-hour film. Did we really need to see Wendell (Lemmon) in the airplane flying to Rome, or Pamela’s (Juliet Mills) adventurous walk through the town? I have to wonder how much footage Billy Wilder didn’t use. 4) So, wait - the maid murders the bellhop (who was attempting to blackmail Wendell) in Pamela’s room, and Carlucci (Clive Revill) instantly knows what really happened, and shields the two foreigners from the local police? That’s convenient. 5) Wait, Pamela sheds her clothing, jumps in the Mediterranean, and Wendell decides to do likewise even though he barely knows her? That’s a little difficult to believe. 6) Strange how Carlucci keeps referencing the town's mildly radioactive mud baths, yet Wilder never thinks to show us one, even though he has more than enough time to do so. 

Rating: Avanti is a quirky, if somewhat predictable romantic comedy that takes a little while to find its footing (Lemmon’s character is a bit of a jerk in the first act), eventually charms its audience and but then wears out its welcome after the two-hour mark (see: “Really?” #3). Revill steals the film with a very likeable performance, so I'll give Avanti an extra half-star. 7/10 stars. 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068240/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1