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General: Minor Films   no photo.
TitleJohnny Stecchino (1991)
Alternative/Original Title
DisabilityGeneral Down's Syndrome
CountryItaly
Length100
GenreComedy
Rating4
DirectorRoberto Benigni
CastRoberto Benigni Nicoletta Braschi Paolo Bonacelli Franco Volpi Ivano Marescotti
NotesA mild mannered man who drives a school bus looks just like the gangster Johnny Stecchino. One day the girlfriend of Stecchino spots him and takes him to where Stecchino hangs out. The school bus he drives is for Down's Syndrome children. This was the highest grossing film in Italy and Benigni has just received an Oscar for the best foreign film (1998) for his film "Life is Wonderful". Roberto Benigni probably evokes similar responses to Jim Carrey. You either love him or hate him. He plays both the sad, lonely Dante and the Mafioso Johnny Stecchino. J.S. who has grassed on the Mafia is in danger of his life and when his girlfriend spots Dante a look-a-like for J.S., she sees the chance to turn the spotlight off J.S. There follows a staccato sequence of slapstick jokes. One running gag is Dante's mistaken belief that cocaine will cure diabetes. Among the Down's Syndrome children he drives to school is his best friend who has diabetes as well as Down's Syndrome. Dante himself is faking a disability, a shaking hand, the result of someone running into his bus and is the subject of a fraud investigation. But the minister behind the investigation has been faking a limp for 20 years.

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