The Last One for the Road
When Carlobianchi (Sergio Romano) and Doriano (Pierpaolo Capovilla) set off to pick up their old friend Genio (Andrea Pennacchi) at the Venice Airport at Treviso, they will end up having an entirely different adventure due to their predilection for always seeking out "The Last One for the Road."
Laura's Review: B
Cowriter (with his "Other Cannibals" collaborator Adriano Candiago)/director Francesco Sossai's hilarious and engaging road trip movie tips its hat to "La Dolce Vita" in its prologue, then turns into an exploration of friendship during hard economic times before ending with something like generational wisdom. This is one of those films where irresponsible decisions turn out to be the foundation of a memorable and meaningful experience in a young man's life.
The film's prologue features the CEO of a company arriving by helicopter to gift Primo Sossai (Gianni Da Re), a man he pretends to know like family, with a gold Rolex on his retirement, then quickly taking off. These were the better days before 2008 delivered economic calamity to Carlobianchi and Dori's home in northern Italy's Veneto region. They are hoping Genio, their former partner in crime who fled to Argentina twenty years ago, might be the source of cash infusion.
After discussing why Venice's airport is twenty-five miles away in Treviso (to fool the tourists is their conclusion), the two take to the road, stopping for weird tasting refreshments they are horrified to find out is non-alcoholic beer and going into 'stealth mode' by turning off their headlights on twisty Italian roads. Looking for one of their last drinks of the night, the two run into a group of friends celebrating Giulia Antonia's (Giulia Bertasi) graduation and latch onto the group, taking withdrawn architecture student Giulio (Filippo Scotti, "The Hand of God"), who clearly has a crush on Giulia, under their wing, insisting he accompany them to the next bar. In one of the film's funniest shot compositions (cinematography by Massimiliano Kuveiller, "Diciannove," doing wonderful work in low light), Giulio stands in the foreground staring at Giulia on the dance floor as Carlobianchi and Dori dance like maniacs behind him. The bar band featured in this scene is one of several local bands Sossai includes for a 'shitkicker bar rock' soundtrack, a previous stop with a Western line dance going on resulting in a conversation with a German as to which country has become more Americanized.
Giulio will hear all about his new companions' exploits with Genio, from their first trip away from Italy to Oktoberfest ('natch) to a notorious Viennese brothel. The young man who protested that he had to get up early for his design review finds himself still with these guys at daybreak, where they once again are looking for their last drink as 'it's still yesterday for us.' Giulio insists he needs to take the train home to get his computer, then return. Cut to him in the back seat of Carlobianchi and Doriano's Jaguar, the luxury car the last gasp of ill gotten gains from the stolen designer sunglass scheme with Genio years ago. The architecture student's request to stop at Brion Tomb is ignored and he will watch his two companions arguing in the distance once they discover that Venice at Treviso is indeed the wrong airport. What a surprise when they randomly run into Genio later on the side of the road, Carlobianchi and Dori's initial quest a mere side trip before their next adventure, a Count mistaking Carlobianchi for an architect, a role Giulio steps right into, winning them a job AND daiquiris, the latter celebrated more exuberantly.
His design review now well in the rearview mirror, Giulio is able to convince them to stop a Brion Tomb on their way home, a local architectural landmark the young man is astonished to learn they've never visited. Dori's words at their first meeting, 'There's never another time,' couldn't be more apt for Giulio's new destination, Carlobianchi and Doriano's influence life changing.
Sossai packs a lot of heart and smarts into a road trip we're lucky to be able to join. Romano and Capovilla are a wonderfully matched pair, at once bickering old married couple and drinking buddies, both exhibiting a joie de vivre when not regretting the night before. You may never look at a shrimp cocktail quite the same way again.
Music Box Films released "The Last One for the Road" in NY on 5/1/26. Click here for theaters and playdates.
