| Captain Antonio Corelli (Nicolas Cage) and his boyhood chums join an artillery regiment but are more comfortable singing arias from Mozart's "Cosi Fan Tutte" (actually, they sometimes object to non-Italian composers, so let's be safe and say arias from Verdi's "Rigoletto"). Simply put, they are lovers, not fighters, and party non-stop on the Greek Island of Cephallonia. The inhabitants of this island, however, don't exactly welcome their enemies with open arms, including the beautiful Pelagia (Penelope Cruz). Let's face it, this movie is a love story, or rather, SUPPOSED to be a love story in the vein of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" (sworn enemies/star-crossed lovers/you get the picture). Antonio sings some tunes, Pelagia fights with him, he plays some tunes on the mandolin, she fights with him some more, he sings some tunes while playing the mandolin, she fights with him still more, and BOOM ... they are soulmates. (I never knew it was that easy!!) The movie is over 2 hours (a long 2 hours), and it is absolutely void of any emotional intimacy. |
