Academy Award-winner Roberto Benigni adapts the classic children's tale by Carlo Collodi for the big-budget family-oriented comedy Pinocchio. In his usual fashion, Benigni directs and stars, this time as the little puppet boy made out of wood. The familiar story begins as a log of pinewood falls out of a cart and lands in front of woodcarver, Geppetto (Carlo Giuffré), who carves the puppet out of longing for a son. When the puppet begins to come alive and cause trouble, Geppetto is arrested and
Pinocchio is left to his own naïve worldview. After getting a stern warning from the Blue Fairy (Benigni's wife and producer Nicoletta Braschi), Pinocchio sets out to reunite with his father, become a real boy, and succumb to some desire for adventure. Along the way, he meets a number of characters played by mostly Italian stage actors, including Franco Javarone, Peppe Barra, and Kim Rossi Stuart. The popular Italian comedy team Fichi d'India plays the roles of the Cat and Fox. Released by Miramax in the U.S., the film received an English-dubbed soundtrack with the voice talents of Glenn Close, David Suchet, and Breckin Meyer as Pinocchio. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
What remains is a variant of the nincompoop Benigni persona, here a more annoying, though less angry version of the irresponsible Sandlerian manchild, undercut by the voice of the star of Road Trip.
Every good actor needs to do his or her own Hamlet. For Benigni it wasn't Shakespeare whom he wanted to define his career with but Pinocchio. It might as well have been Problem Child IV.
This is a monumental achievement in practically every facet of inept filmmaking: joyless, idiotic, annoying, heavy-handed, visually atrocious, and often downright creepy.
What's most incredible is not that Benigni thought that he could pull off a believable wooden puppet who wants to be a boy, nor thet he could turn such a charming story into such a horrifically scary tale, but that the people of Italy love this movie so m
This overproduced piece of dreck is shockingly bad and absolutely unnecessary. Hmmm...might I suggest that the wayward wooden one end it all by stuffing himself into an electric pencil sharpener?
Benigni presents himself as the boy puppet Pinocchio, complete with receding hairline, weathered countenance and American Breckin Meyer's ridiculously inappropriate Valley Boy voice.
Adults will certainly want to spend their time in the theater thinking up grocery lists and ways to tell their kids how not to act like Pinocchio. As for children, they won't enjoy the movie at all.
Gosh, what a piece of pretentious guffaw-inducing celluloid. Benigni doesn't fit the Pinocchio role well. He's not cute or funny - he's a bit of a buffoon. There's no magic here; move along!
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