CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
Friday, June 13, 1997

FEATURES, FREEZE FRAMES

Freeze Frames: The Monitor Movie Guide

FOR ROSEANNA (PG -13)

+ Roseanna's health is uncertain, and her greatest wish is to be buried with her family in the churchyard of her Italian village. But there's only one vacant plot left, so her loving husband embarks on a campaign to keep everyone else in town alive until she's laid to rest there. Paul Weiland directed this pitch-dark comedy from Saul Turteltaub's screenplay, which is too uneven and contrived to be saved by lively performances from Jean Reno and Mercedes Ruehl.

FOR ROSEANNA
***

Starring Jean Reno, Mercedes Ruehl and Polly Walker.
Directed by Paul Weiland. Written by Saul Turteltaub, Dick Clement and Ian Le Frenais.
Produced by Paul Trijbits, Alison Owen and Dario Poloni.
A Fine Line release. Comedy.
Rated PG-13 for sexuality and brief language.
Running time: 99 min. Screened at the Santa Barbara fest.

Fine Line--which long had this on its coming slate as "Roseanna's Grave"--considered retitling this "For the Love of Roseanna" and then settled for "For Roseanna," probably hoping to avoid the death-title boxoffice jinx. (Although the intermediate title better captured the spirit of this light-hearted affair.)

Although the story seems a grave one--a dying wife ("The Fisher King's" Mercedes Ruehl) wants to be assured of being laid to rest in the same cemetery as that of her dead child--director Paul Weiland and his three scripters ensure that "Roseanna's Grave" remains a comic affair. They do this by using a droll scenario that wouldn't be out of place in foreign-language fare (set in an Italian village, the film is in English): With the local graveyard almost full, Roseanna's loving husband ("Mission: Impossible's" Jean Reno) begins to stash bodies as townspeople die.

But the film never crosses over to slapstick, and that's thanks in part to the surprisingly genuine humanity of the key characters. Reno and Ruehl make for a convincing married couple; though the spouses are accustomed to each other's day-to-day presence, the two players make the audience see there remains a deep romance between them. As Roseanna's single sister, who shares the couple's home so as to be close to her sister and who Roseanna sometimes envisions becoming her husband's wife after she's gone, Polly Walker ("Restoration") does a fine job with the most intriguing part, in that she must be loyal to her sister and yet sexual simultaneously.

Given that Fine Line took this film to ShowEast and is releasing it in two digital formats, the distributor has aspirations to reaching beyond the art-house crowd to crossover audiences. The lack of A-list stars and the overseas locale, which is more realistic than splendid, will likely act as limiters. But the story is a sunny one, despite the original title, and the wistfully happy ending is sure to please audiences of any stripe.

Quentin Curtis
 

The makers of Roseanna's Grave must be praying for comparisons with Cinema  Paradiso and Il Postino. But this Italian idyll swaps the innocence and charm of those films for a kind of sickly contrivance. Jean Reno plays a devoted husband desperate to ensure that his ill wife, Roseanna, gets a plot in the local cemetery, while all around him people, inconveniently, die. It might have made for a riotously dark comedy, but the note that director Paul Weiland hits is cloyingly bittersweet.

It might also have helped if one or two of the leads were actually Italian. Instead, they speak in cod "Eetalian" accents and shrug a lot. The one genuinely poignant feature of the film is the work of Mark Frankel, more striking and shaded than his debut in Leon the Pig
Farmer. This performance, of such promise, was his last before being killed in a motorcycle accident.

THE VILLAGE VOICE
Tuesday, June 24, 1997

Film

FOR ROSEANNA
Jennifer Vandever

FOR ROSEANNA

Directed by Paul Weiland

Italian trattoria owner Marcello works tirelessly to keep his fellow villagers alive. It seems the village cemetery is down to its last three plots and his dying wife Roseanna's last wish is to be buried there. Unlike American cemeteries, Italian ones don't take reservations. This would be a rather leaden comic premise to keep airborne were it not for the comic talents of French actor Jean Reno as Marcello. And luckily, Roseanna (played with sexy nobility by Mercedes Ruehl) suffers from an unspecified illness whose only symptom is heightened wistfulness. But as the body count begins to climb, the cast can't keep the proceedings from becoming mired in morbidity. With subplots involving a bitter old rich guy, his hunky nephew, a slutty Roman mistress, and a Mafia hit man come back from the slammer, the film starts to feel like a wacky Italian version of Knots Landing. Though admittedly it's a version with more charm and a much better locale.

Film Reviews by PAUL  WUNDER
Screening Room

ROSEANNA'S GRAVE
99 minutes

MPAA Rating: PG-13
Release date: March, 1997
 

Marcello  Jean Reno
Roseanna  Mercedes Ruehl
Cecilia  Polly Walker
Antonio  Mark Frankel

Director  Paul Weiland
Writer  Saul Turteltaub
Director of Photography  Henry Braham
Editor  Martin Walsh
Music  Trevor Jones

A radiant romantic comedy that combines knockabout farce with heartfelt emotion. ROSEANNA'S GRAVE pairs rising international star Jean Reno and Oscar-winner Mercedes Ruehl as Marcello and Roseanna, a husband and wife whom death will, perhaps, only nominally part. Steeped in the timeless beauty and warm sensuality of a small Italian village, Roseanna's Grave is a celebration of life and love in the face of death that is both poignant and delightful.

Marcello, a trattoria proprietor in the tiny village of Travento, is a man with a truly life-or-death mission.He is determined to secure his terminally ill wife's dearest wish: to be buried next to their long-deceased daughter in the local cemetery, which has three plots left(in Italy, you can't buy and reserve a burial plot prior to a person's death - PW). While Marcello goes to increasingly extreme lengths to keep everyone in the village alive, well and out of his wife's intended graveyard spot, ROSEANNA occupies herself with taking care of her husband's life after her death.

What is original about this film is that it was produced with all American money, in Europe, with a British director.

ROSEANNA's Grave has the authentic feel of an Italian Film, where the characters speak English. Thus, we have the best of both possible worlds: A clever, funny "foreign" comedy in which we do not have to deal with subtitles or dubbing.

The comedy can only be described as purely and utterly charming. The humor is perfect, and visually, the film (in CinemaScope) is stunning.

Putting the film's brilliant direction and stunning look aside, at the heart of ROSEANNA's Grave are two brilliant performances. Jean Reno, seen in LA FEMME NIKITA, THE PROFESSIONAL and MISSION IMPOSSIBLE is a splendid comic. In addition, he exudes an aura of warmth and honesty that give power to the film. Mercedes Ruehl, who won the Academy Award for THE FISHER KING is outstanding as the dying wife. Why don't we see more of this wonderful actress?

I suspect that this film may well be up for an Academy Award next year if the Academy can figure out what country gets credit for making the film.

 An utterly charming, life-affirming romantic comedy with a unique international flavor.

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, London
August 10, 1997
 

Ann Billson

Dozens of films are made in Italy each year, but do we get to see them? We do not.  Instead, we get ersatz Italiana such as Roseanna's Grave (12), an Anglo-American production in which a Frenchman (Jean Reno), an American (Mercedes Ruehl), and a couple of Brits (Polly Walker and Mark Frankel) all speak English to one another with cod Italian accents. Reno has promised his beloved but ailing wife (Ruehl) that she will be buried in the local cemetery, but there are only three graves left, so he goes to great lengths to ensure that none of his fellow citizens dies and, when some of them do keel over, conceals the corpses so that no one finds out. Despite the dark-sounding plot, the film remains resolutely sunny, slow-moving and half-baked, relying far too much on its ludicrously picturesque Lazio scenery. The director, coincidentally, is Paul Weiland, who directed the TV Mr Bean.

GREG ROY KING'S  Film Review
©Greg King 1997 Melbourne Australia

FOR ROSEANNA

(Village Roadshow)

Director: Paul Weiland
Stars: Jean Reno, Mercedes Ruehl, Mark Frankel, Polly Walker,
Luigi Diberti, Roberto Della Cassa, Trevor Peacock.

Not since Harold And Maude has there been such a deliciously funny black comedy about death.
Marcello (popular French actor Jean Reno, from Mission: Impossible, etc) owns a small restaurant in the tiny Italian village of Trivento. His wife Roseanna (Oscar winner Mercedes Ruehl, from The Fisher King, etc) suffers from a degenerative heart disease, and her one wish is to be buried in the local cemetery next to her deceased daughter. But space is at a premium in the already overcrowded cemetery, with only three plots left. Despite Marcello's pleas, embittered wealthy landowner Capestro (Luigi Diberti) refuses to sell the church some of his vacant land adjoining the cemetery. The reasons for Capestro's selfish actions are buried in the past, as Roseanna rejected both him and his wealth in favour of a more simple but honest life with Marcello. Marcello desperately tries to prevent anyone else in the town from dying before Roseanna, which leads to some hilarious situations.

In the wrong hands, For Roseanna could have easily descended into bad taste. However, the off beat and original scenario crackles with a sparkling, infectious humour and winning style that enables the audience to laugh at some of its more outrageous and appalling moments, such as suicide, and Marcello's ingenious attempts to hide the body of a prominent citizen who has inconveniently died in a car accident.

For Roseanna is wonderfully scripted by veteran tv comedy writer Saul Turteltaub (who has written and produced over 30 sitcoms including Love American Style, etc), making his feature film debut. British director Paul Weiland's first film was City Slickers 2, but here he finds an assured mix of wicked black humour and a more physical brand of comedy. Despite its bizarre plot, however, For Roseanna is essentially a romantic comedy, and Weiland's slick direction manages to capture the whimsical tone of the material.

Weiland has assembled an international cast who manage to capture the off- beat tone and frantic pace of the farcical material. Reno is wonderful as Marcello, bringing a manic energy to his performance, which is the centre piece of the film. Ruehl manages to suffuse her terminally-ill Roseanna with a quiet strength, passion and thirst for life that enriches the character. For Roseanna is dedicated to Mark Frankel, the young British actor who, ironically, died in a motorcycle crash soon after completing work on the film.

For Roseanna was shot on various picturesque locations in Italy, and cinematographer Henry Braham gives the film the glossy look of a postcard, and it will have many within the audience planning their next holiday even before they leave the cinema.

*** At Village, the Rivoli, Dendy Brighton from August 21.