Life is Beautiful

     Despite the similar title, this is not "It's a Wonderful Life." Many an internet hair has been pulled over remembering the name of the movie, but people correcting it as "It's a Wonderful Life."


     Think back to the 1999 Oscars... If you weren't a young child back then, do you recall the man who, upon winning the Oscar, jumped up form his chair and climbed on the one in front of him in elation? That was Roberto Benigni, who directed and starred in Life is Beautiful. He also wrote it. He only falls short of Tommy Wiseau by virtue of not being the producer as well.

    The story is about an Italian man in Italy who falls in love with a high-class woman, but she's engaged to be married to another man, and hilarious hi-jinks ensue where the man tries to woo her to his side. They then get married, have a little boy with a silly hat, and go to a camp where they play a strange game where the winner gets a tank! The military kind, not the containment unit kind!


...
Actually the first half of the movie is incredibly painful. It is like a bad Jerry Lewis or Adam Sandlar movie. It isn't romantic, it isn't even funny. It is a series of contrived coincidences that work in the main character's favor. The movie doesn't actually improve until they go to the concentration camp.

Oh yeah, the main character's Jewish. I forgot to mention it, because the movie didn't desire to make that apparent until the family's horse was graffitied with and anti-Semitic phrase. There was a sign earlier in the movie, when the main character's uncle is beat up and robbed by some thugs... Except that incident is promptly ignored, and we are instead made to assume the uncle is nuts.
Once the movie actually makes it clear that the man's Jewish, the movie begins improving...

The main character's goal in the second half of the movie is keeping his son innocent and safe by pretending the Internment camp is a game; convincing his son that all the terrifying things are lies trying to make him lose the game, and that hiding and not allowing himself to be seen will garner him the most points. This was significantly better than the first half, because the goal is understandable and noble... and the same man that was comparable to Adam Sandlar in the first half, actually becomes funny in the second. The second half is a good movie, but makes the movie tolerable thanks to the awful first half.

For improving it, I recommend cutting up the first half a lot. It runs for 40 minutes, but it could be reduced to 20, removing more of the idiotic scenes. (Case in point, he impersonates a school inspector in order to surprise his romantic interest. He makes an utter fool of himself, and risks execution for his stupidity.) Then leave the second half as-is; it is fine. I would recommend removing the first half entirely, but there are a couple good moments that require knowledge of the first half.

In short: If you can survive the first half, the second half is much better. It would be better if the first half was much shorter.