Critic Reviews

• Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

  Italian writer/director/comedian Gianni Di Gregorio plays browbeaten family men brilliantly, and in this film he's given himself a fine showcase.

• Stephanie Merry, Washington Post

  At times, the sad sights are enough to make a person hope the put-upon guy finds success. The problem is, as affable as Giovanni is, there's not much more to him.

• Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

  Though you can empathize with Gianni's loneliness, the lecherous buffoon is too much of a stock type to feel fresh. At times, the comedy is shamelessly broad.

• Tom Keogh, Seattle Times

  "The Salt of Life" finds gentle comedy in the dilemma of a still warm-blooded if sexually marginalized fellow for whom kindness is second nature and lecherousness is alien.

• Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

  Imbued with gentle humor and a kind of bittersweet resignation, The Salt of Life isn't life-changing - it's life-describing.

• Linda Barnard, Toronto Star

  A worthy low-key effort.

• Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

  An extraordinary and universal Italian film about a 60-year-old man's mid-life crisis and the sapping of his spirit.

• Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

  A sweet-natured, bittersweet little movie -- and I mean little -- about growing old.

• Dan Lybarger, KC Active

  By acknowledging that younger and older women might be wiser than he is, Di Gregorio takes what could have been a shallow excuse for self-pity and has managed to milk the setup for all the laughs it can generate.

• Dan Lybarger, eFilmCritic.com

  Di Gregorio has a low-key, unaffected charm that makes it remarkably easy to relate to his semi-autobiographical movies.

• Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press

  "Mid-August Lunch" is a livelier film, but its fans should check this one out.

• Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

  Episodically structured and lethargically paced, the new film attempts to convince us that there's something incredibly charming about an old guy who makes a habit of ogling young women. Actually, the whole scenario is pretty creepy.

• Marc Mohan, Oregonian

  Perhaps the sweetest movie ever made about a guy trying to cheat on his wife.

• Rob Thomas, Capital Times (Madison, WI)

  "Salt of Life" somehow takes what should be the leering thoughts of a dirty old man, and makes them poignant.

• Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle

  So hyperbolic are his fantasies that it's clear that not only will they never come true, but they never were true to begin with. Seems to me that's a better place to begin than end.

• Kelly Vance, East Bay Express

  Di Gregorio continues traveling the Woody Allen trail in this charming trifle.

• Gerald Peary, Boston Phoenix

  The Salt of Life deftly sprinkles wacky humor in with the melancholy, and Di Gregorio is a winning talent, both as the amusing star actor and as the film's co-writer and director.

Read all 17 critic reviews