The Monster (1994)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

One of the best comedies I've ever seen! Benigni is a genius and his work as "Loris" is perfect. The script is simple, fun and full of "innocent" jokes! It's a comedy in it's definition. Pure, simple, it makes you laugh in a very sincere way, without the usual stupid jokes we see in sexual comedies nowadays!Remembers me a lot of Charlie Chaplin!The translation to Portuguese (Brazilian Portuguese) is very good, and you don't miss a lot, but if you have the chance to watch it with the original audio, do it!Benigni's acting is great!

From the reviews, I was expecting a Peter Sellers Pink Panther type literate farce but instead found this movie to be a small string of Roberto's marvelous physical shtick wrapped up in fluff. Most of the slapstick situations were telegraphed from the forties. Even for a farce, the story is farcical. The movie started off with much promise but then almost immediately everyone began to chew scenery. Perhaps another director could have evened it out but I was bored. Humor is in the eye, so to speak, so take this with a grain since so many others seem to rate it funny. But my vote is it would make a great SNL skit but there is not enough of anything to make a full length movie. Your mileage may vary.

"Il Mostro" is a slapsticky romcom about a little unemployed man, Loris (Benigni), who is thought to be a serial sex killer who dismembers his victims. So, it is no surprise when a dinner guest see Loris stumbling toward her from the kitchen with a meat cleaver in his raised hand and a flashlight protruding under the crotch of his pants that she faints. "The Monster" is one long series of such obvious setups with predictable comical outcomes glued together with a meager story involving Loris and a beautiful cop who is out to prove him a sex fiend. Reminiscent of old school visual comics like Charlie Chaplin or Jerry Lewis, Benigni clowns it up in this unsophisticated mildly sexy Italian romp which should be a fun watch for anyone into sight gags and outrageous or ridiculous contrived but predictable situations. (B-)

Not at all like "Life is Beautiful", but entertaining and uproarious at times. It is a pity that Benigni films are not more readily available worldwide (outside Italy), in particular "Non ci resta che piangere" AKA "Nothing to do but cry" is a Benigni gem that is perhaps the best of all his films but nearly impossible to find. "Il Mostro", now available in the US, offers moments of comic genius and is altogether worthwhile to watch. My rating: 8.5/10