This film chronicles 6 months in the lives of four middle-aged homosexual friends, each of whom is a neurotic wreck. The film opens in a gay disco with very hunky Italian Go-Go boys and moves on through the lives of each of the men. As we watch the problems plaguing them, we also see their sense of humor, as they spur each other to perform outrageous pranks and sexual games. They love, suffer, fight, are good or bad, and are generous or envious. All four characters are shown as lonely, pathetic, predatory, misogynistic and incapable of sustaining an intimate long-term relationship--but they laugh at the cards that life has dealt them. Sandro (Massimo Ghini) is a television producer who discovered his homosexuality after having started a family. Dado (Alessandro Haber) is a successful orthopedic surgeon. Tony (Leo Gullotta) is a women's tailor who lives with his possessive mother. And Vittorio (Christian De Sica) is an architect in love with an associate who is about to be wed. Together, the four men party through Rome, sharing adventures, practical jokes, and some disappointments. There is a sobering and frightening climax with a very handsome, naive, and vulnerable straight young man.
The movie is intelligent and mature, yet full of young-at-heart lust and desire, as well as pain and pathos. All four actors give excellent performances, lending depth to their characters and making them sympathetic. Sandro, the most macho of the group, is particularly intense. Yet as good as the actors are, they cannot compensate for a gag-driven script that is predictable, with gay stereotypes. Basically, the film is a series of vignettes in which the characters' growth is substantially limited. Yet it is an entertaining, enjoyable movie, despite its lack of continuity. Christian De Sica's direction is almost perfect, making one to wonder what level of success he might attain with a decent screenplay. De Sica wrote the screenplay. The English title is "Men or Not Men".
