Avanti is many things and this is why it has and may never receive the acclaim it deserves. Some may dismiss it or indeed try to define it simply as a rom-com. It is SO much more. It is a love story and a very moving one at that. It is a farce. It is a more straight forward comedy. It is a delightful and dexterous comedy-Film that combines European and American cultures and for once melds them beautifully. Lemmon gives one of his best performances, whilst Juliet Mills gives the performance of her career. Clive Revill almost steals the film, and all the supporting Actors are superb. How Juliet Mills & Jack Lemmon did not only not get nominated but not win Oscars for Avanti! is beyond me. And right the way through the writing is superb and soaring above all of it the class, the quality, the brilliance of one of the great Film-makers of all time, Billy Wilder. This film is for adults, it is not a family movie, and it's all the better for it. It's brave, bold and deeply funny and humane. You really would have to be deeply cynical and appallingly humourless not to find this Film funny and moving. Got get it on DVD today, I'd be astonished if you don't make a life-long friend with this movie once you've watched it.
Review of Avanti!
