Critic Reviews

• Peter Howell, Toronto Star

  [Director Moretti] wraps his political agenda with an affecting story about a fading filmmaker whose dreams and beliefs aren't weathering the storms of middle age. If the politics don't get you, the life empathy will.

• Dave Calhoun, Time Out

  It's uneven.

• , Globe and Mail

  A familiarity with the vagaries of Italian politics in the last 20 years is a help, but not a necessity, to appreciate this fascinating at times farcical blend of domestic drama and political rumination.

• Duane Byrge, Hollywood Reporter

  A warm family drama pops through the seams of a film within-a-film about Silvio Berlusconi.

• S. James Wegg, JWR

  ... the film-within-the film wraps, but the willful manipulation of honest citizens continues unabated.

• Jim Slotek, Jam! Movies

  An unfocused mess of a movie that fairly throws its hands in the air in the final act, rather than chug along to a conclusion.

• Anton Bitel, Film4

  one can only assume that it was the accumulation of Berlusconi's own indiscretions that cost him the 2006 elections rather than the muted blows of this aimlessly incoherent and over-clever satire.

• Philip French, Observer [UK]

  Telling moments occur here and there, but there is a slack randomness to the movie, the attack on Berlusconi is unfocused and Bruno is too weak to sustain the film.

• Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]

  Muddled and messy anti-Berlusconi satire now looks even more exasperating than when I first saw it.

• Ian Johns, Times [UK]

  Some moments amuse but one's left wishing that Moretti had ditched his film-within-a-film framework and made either a documentary or a domestic drama.

• Will Lawrence, Empire Magazine

  The political satire in this bitty drama can be lost on those residing outside of Italy.

• Rich Cline, Film Threat

  A fascinating film about moviemaking and government corruption, but it requires a fairly thorough understanding of Italian politics.

• Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena

  Revela-se três filmes em um; e o problema é que, embora funcione bem ao lidar com as atribulações de seu protagonista, acaba falhando no campo que talvez seja mais importante para seu realizador: o político.

• Urban Cinefile Critics, Urban Cinefile

  The Caiman is a curious film. While there are flashes of brilliance and stimulating ideas, it is plagued by an underbelly of confusion

• Matthew Turner, ViewLondon

  Patchy but enjoyable mish-mash of political satire, relationship drama and film-making comedy, though it does require a certain understanding of Italian politics.

• Joseph Proimakis, Movies for the Masses

  [click to read review in Greek]

• David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews

  ...ultimately hurt by the overt familiarity of its storyline...

• Boyd van Hoeij, european-films.net

  Perhaps the fictive demise of Berlusconi is enough for the Italian masses, but others might want something more for their ticket- or rental fee, such as a properly structured and thematically coherent story.

Read all 18 critic reviews