Tea with Mussolini

Dir: Franco Zeffirelli

1999

**

Sometimes it's hard to fault an autobiographical film. I wasn't convinced by any of Franco Zeffirelli's semi-autobiographical film and yet it is a true story. Sure, it is semi-autobiographical (emphasis on semi) but I didn't really believe in the factual or the fictional. I believe the scorpioni ladies existed, I just thought the way this dramatization of their lives was handled looked like a badly written and rather cheap looking Sunday night TV drama. Certain characters have been exaggerated I'm sure but with some of the best British and American actors in the cast (Joan Plowright, Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Cher, Lily Tomlin) there isn't a great performances between them. For once, I think that Zeffirelli should have exaggerated their characters even more so, as Maggie Smith played the same character she always does but here it is somewhat sugar-free. Cher and Lily Tomlin probably give the best performances but again, they're nothing special. Supporting performances are fairly weak. There really isn't much of a story here but I think there could have been, Zeffirelli has embellished the true but hasn't really milked it for what it's worth. There is no suspense, intrigue or tension where there should have been and the comedy falls woefully flat. The film contains some of the worst examples of over-acting I've ever seen and the less said about the cross dressing scene the better. It has it's moments and is entertaining enough but overall it's a missed opportunity.