Make a Wish, the review - Not much to laugh about in the nursing home

Simone is an aimless, chaotic, and unlucky thirty-year-old who ends up in court, sentenced to community service in a nursing home. It sounds like the beginning of an afternoon sitcom but it's the plot of Make a Wish, a film coming out in Italian cinemas directed by Volfango De Biasi, with Max Angioni making his debut in cinema.

Opposing him is Ettore (Diego Abatantuono), a gruff former wine entrepreneur leading a band of wild old folks, ready to play (heavy) tricks on the newcomer. Once he collects 3 warnings from the slimy director, the young man will be forced to serve the rest of his sentence in prison.

Great cast in Make a Wish, but not all are utilized

Angioni is more an interpreter of a role than a character but all in all he works, also thanks to (the usual) Abatantuono. Among the other important names in the cast, we remember Giorgio Colangeli, Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Marco Messeri, and Hal Yamanouchi, whose voice makes it impossible to shake off the echo of a well-known Japanese car company's advertisement. Last but not least, the great Nini Salerno of the legendary “Gatti”, utterly wasted and reduced to a limping caricature who doesn't utter a word (and doesn't even appear on the billboard).

A remake of the French film The Worst Job of My Life (Maison de Retraite), directed by Thomas Gilou and released in 2022, this Make a Wish brings to the screen an idea that works on paper, but after an encouraging start, it proceeds more and more in fits and starts. Because the risk of slipping on the banana peel of mawkishness is often around the corner, with the typical generational conflict where only a few gags really work. Simone is far too much of a victim.

The direction chooses the path of classic comedy without taking risks, resulting in a film that often takes a (too) bittersweet or puerile turn, in an irreverent politically (s)correct that only elicits a couple of smiles.