Giancarlo Fontana and Giuseppe Stasi | Italy

Claudia’s (Miriam Leone) emergent art restoring business subsists on monetary vapors; owing to Granny’s (Barbara Bouchet) pension it survives. Repeated reminders to the superintendence have yet to secure a commission payment owed Claudia … purportedly, the municipality’s struggling financially. Concurrently, ever vigilant, sharp-eyed tax police are increasingly catching/prosecuting infringers. Therefore, the day Grandma’s nap becomes permanent, plus hoping to prolong bankruptcy, Claudia’s friends/employees (Lucia Ocone, Susy Laude) push an unconventional plan. Calculating granny’s next payment is due so it’ll only be for a short time, they “freeze” grandma concealed under layers of frozen foods. Meanwhile, the completely incorruptible, socially clumsy tax officer Simone Recchia’s (Fabio De Luigi) routine enquiry leads to Claudia’s door. Simone promptly falls head-over-heels in love, whereas Claudia’s guilt-riddled imagination is stuck on the stash in the freezer. Their parallel confusion opens the floodgates to creatively concocted shenanigans, disguises, and duplicities. Nonna’s long-ago beau (Eros Pagni) turning up triggers bizarre incidents, since Augusto will chase ghosts to kingdom come to get what he’s come after.

Directors Giancarlo Fontana and Giuseppe Stasi work from Fabio Bonifacci’s delightful slapstick-cum-gallows humor screenplay. The cast performs with gusto, embracing the zany characters distinctive personalities. Valerio Azzali’s cinematography, Giancarlo Fontana’s editing, and Francesco Cerasi’s music are refreshing. This delightfully funny, madcap rom-com escapade will have audiences clamoring for another collaboration from the directing duo.
(MH)