Finally: a thriller with a sense of humor. Sure, people get killed, but who says that's always a bad thing? A life of crime can be so much fun! Technically speaking, there is a blackmail-based plot here (revolving around a stolen microchip), but this is really an actors' movie. Pretty much all characters are lovable creatures of narrow habit: Bald-headed Trippi, the loan shark who just can't help beating people up on sight. Francesco, Trippi's debtor, an addicted gambler by day and a bus driver by night. Matera, the supposedly hard-headed intelligence veteran, who really has nothing but soft spots. Garofano, the mob's short-tempered bloodhound, who is kept on a very short leash by incoming calls from his boss and his wife, much like Paul Giamatti's Hertz in "Shoot 'Em Up". Finally Leila (aka Serena aka Alessandra), the compulsive liar and habitual thief. Leila goes by more names God himself and is aptly played by the divine Giovanna Mezzogiorno, the Italian Romy Schneider. Dolled up pretty badly in her hooker's personality, she shines all the more brightly when she gives up the gutter gear for a plain T-Shirt and the wig for her real hair to charm Francesco out of his melancholy. Stay for closing credits.
Review of Notturno bus
