Loose Cannons

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A great opening is something special. Not only does it set the viewer up for what's to come, but also will encourage the audience to forgive any bum notes that might follow – it gives the movie the benefit of the doubt. Loose Cannons has such an opening: a beautiful woman, in full bridal dress, hurries down a country lane; whether she is running from or to something is unclear. Probably both. She comes across an old monastery and she goes inside to find a handsome man in a dapper suit. They stare at each other – this is the moment they've been waiting for. But what's this? His eyes find a gun, previously hidden to the audience, in her right hand. There's a struggle. The gun goes off. Cut to: an old woman, very obviously the bride, staring at a mirror years later. This is Nonna (Ilaria Occhini) – but this is not her story.

No, Loose Cannons belongs to, for the most part, Tomasso (Scamarcio), the son of a wealthy factory owner. Tomasso tells his older brother Antonio (Preziosi) that he has three announcements for the upcoming family dinner: he never studied business in college, he wants to be a writer, and that he's gay. Tomasso wants out from under his father Vincenzo (Fantastichini) and his traditional ways so he can live with his lover Marco (Carmine Recano) in Rome. The night doesn't according to plan: Antonio steals Tomasso's thunder by admitting that he too is gay and is banished by Vincenzo. The shock puts his father in hospital and Tomasso in limbo, as he now can't admit anything for fear of killing his deathly ill father. So when Marco and his gay friends show up, thinking Tomasso has outed himself, things get awkward to say the least...

Loose Cannons takes so many unexpected turns it's hard to predict what will happen next, and if one was brave enough to make a prediction it would be invariably be wrong. Who could guess that the gay Tomasso would find himself attracted to the sultry Alba (Nicole Grumaudo), and who would dare speculate that the traditional Vincenzo, a man steeped in family being of utmost importance, has been carrying on affair for years? We're not giving anything away – this is only a small number of mini-twists that happen throughout the running time and it's a delight to be swept along with them.

However, there are a few bum notes that not even that excellent grabber at the top can save. Loose Cannons deals with fairly heavy stuff but in an infuriating light manner. Director Ozpetek employs the use of a jaunty mandolin in almost every scene, undercutting the seriousness on screen. The movie doesn't settle down either and seems to be taken over by anyone who happens to wander into scene – there are too many paths taken to give the story one central thrust. It is fun when it wants to be, though.