Human Capital

Tries to talk about a concept that directly concerns the working class and the poor by focusing on the lives of the rich and the upper middle class (not really attacking it and redeeming some). Builds on the mysterious identity of a criminal to pull a marginalized guy out of the hat 30 minutes from the end of the movie, so that, at least when it comes to directly killing people, the bourgeoise is innocent and the poor guilty. Adds insult to injury with its extremely cliché depiction of the poor

After all the well carved pieces fit together and we got to watch some decent performances, I have to wonder what the point is. The film will tell you it in text form in the last 30 seconds. It is about the poor soul on the bicycle that was shown for a total of one minute while the rest of the film was spent on the fairly irritating chorus. Vapid, to say the least.

As noir doesn't work, it has plot-holes and a wrong pace. As an italian-style comedy (the preferred genre of the director, Virzì) it plays with the regional stereotypes of the Brianza without really biting with a fierce satire. As usual with Virzì, it's a good director by technical standpoint, especially at directing actors; but he has not the courage or the intellectual caliber to make something really significant, valuable, Monicelli-esque. Watchable, nothing more.

Quite stylish and structured in a more interesting way than usual, but otherwise pretty bland.