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THE HAND OF GOD MOVIE REVIEW
Oscar winning Italian director Paolo Sorrentino (“The Great Beauty”) returns with his semi-autobiographical film “The Hand of God.” The story follows his stand-in character Fabietto (Filippo Scotti), a teen in 1980’s Naples who seems to live a fulfilling, if sometimes nutty, life with his VERY eccentric family. His favorite (European) football player Diego Maradona is joining Naples’ home team, he has plans to study philosophy in college, and things seem to be going his way. However, a terrible tragedy befalls him and his brother that forces him to rethink how his life could ever be the same again from that point forward. Frank, Justin and Justin’s wife Lexie had some entertaining thoughts about the pros and cons of this beautifully shot, if somewhat meandering, addition to Sorrentino’s quite impressive catalogue. But is it enough to justify being Netflix and Italy’s main contender for the Best International Feature Oscar?
DIRECTOR BY: Paolo Sorrentino
STARRING: Filippo Scotti, Toni Servillo, Teresa Saponangelo, Marlon Joubert, Luisa Ranieri, Renato Carpentieri, Massimiliano Gallo, Betti Pedrazzi, Biagio Manna, Ciro Capano, Enzo Decaro, Sofya Gershevich, Roberto Oliveri, Lino Musella, Cristiana Dell’Anna, Monica Nappo
YOUR REVIEWERS
Frank Calvillo (Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad)
Born and raised in South Texas, Frank currently lives in Austin and has been in love with movies ever since his father showed him some Three Stooges shorts when he was five years old. Today he loves all kinds of film, regardless of era, country, budget or genre. He believes every film has an audience and is at least one person’s favorite movie. After writing for Sight & Sound and Slackerwood, he now writes for Cinapse where his increasingly random taste in all flavors of cinema (from Rashomon to Mars Attacks!) continues to thrive. His ultimate goal is to write a script for his boyhood crush, Michelle Pfeiffer.
Justin Zarian (Screener Squad, Eye on the Prize, Breakfast Pub, Assistant Site Manager)
Justin’s fate as a movie fanatic was written in the stars when his birth forced his parents to cancel their planned Oscar viewing party. While growing up in California, he was often seen in front of the television watching and re-watching Star Wars, Jurassic Park, classic Disney movies and a steady stream of animated shows. This eventually led to a B.A. in Film at Brigham Young University and an Outstanding Student Teacher Award for displaying a level of film knowledge so insane that even his fellow film students couldn’t compete. He received his M.A. from Syracuse University and is currently pursuing a teaching certificate, but still volunteers at One of Us every so often for the fun of it. His hobbies include non-stop film conversations, wondering how Mass Effect 3’s ending went so wrong, espousing the joys of shooting guns (but not hunting, as he’s quick to note), writing the next great American television show in his head, and anything else entertainment related. You can find him on Facebook once in a blue moon.
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