Let’s find out together, in this dedicated review, what convinced us so much about Era ora, the romantic comedy directed by Aronadio with Edoardo Leo and Barbara Ronchi
ORIGINAL TITLE: It was time. TYPE: drama, comedy. NATION: Italia. REGIA: Alessandro Aronadio. CAST: Edoardo Leo, Barbara Ronchi, Mario Sgueglia, Francesca Cavallin, Raz Degan, Massimo Wertmüller, Stella Trotta, Sofia Piacentini, Nina and Noa Bianchini Zoni, Andrea Purgatori, Angelo Tanzi. DURATION: 109 minutes. DISTRIBUTOR: Netflix, Vision Distribution. STREAM OUT: 16/03/2023
Time is often punctual in making us realize many things late.
Guido Rojetti
Time flies, it passes for everyone. One day you argue with your parents because you came back late and the next you find yourself having to make ends meet between bills, rent and expenses of various kinds. One day you’re at the park with friends, the next you’re satisfied and happy to go to sleep with a clean kitchen. Time passes and we often don’t notice it. We don’t see all missed opportunities until they become regrets. We don’t see all the people who seek and love us in an attempt to achieve this or that goal, until we finally lose them. Time passes, and time is a big bastard.
“About time” for this review to come out… sorry, we really wanted to
In the vast Netflix catalogue, between films and TV series, there is also ample space for Italian cinema, between films of a merely questionable nature and others of a more profound impact. And it is precisely of a film that falls into this second group that we are talking to you today in this review: Era Ora. Directed by Alessandro Aronadio (Ears, Io C’è), the film is a direct remake of the 2021 film Like there was no tomorrow – Long Story Short by Josh Lawson. Released on Netflix starting March 16, It Was Now was the most played non-English-language film on the platform for a while. We saw it and decided, therefore, to tell you about it.
Dante (Edoardo Leo) and Alice (Barbara Ronchi) meet, by mistake, at a New Year’s party when he, again by mistake, prints her a long and passionate kiss on the mouth thinking she was his girlfriend at the time. Besides, her dress was exactly the same, who wouldn’t be wrong? We said, Dante and Alice know each other almost by mistake and, equally by mistake, they start dating. He is employed in an insurance company in which she hopes to make a career one day, she is a very young artist in exponential growth. A young and brilliant couple, with many projects, a house they just bought and a perfect harmony.
48 hours is not enough | It was time review
What’s the problem? Dante is the classic person who, even if he had 48 hours in a day, would still be able to commit them all. And therefore it is always him who postpones the commitments made with his partner, he always has something else to do and, again, he is always the one who arrives late for the surprise party for her fortieth birthday. And just that evening, Dante goes to sleep and wakes up the next morning… but Alice is pregnant and also several months pregnant. When the next awakening the woman places in his hands a little girl already a few months old, Dante realizes that he has entered a nightmare.
Indeed, every time a man falls asleep, he wakes up the following year without remembering the events of the previous 365 days. She will watch her daughter grow up, her career advance, and her relationship completely fall apart with absolutely nothing she can do. Work related stress? Likely. Nightmare born of fate? Equally likely. The fact is that Dante is completely unable to reverse his fate: lost time does not come back, as do the people who leave.
You can’t go back | It was time review
The only thing that can be done is to realize this and try to remedy what can be healed. We do not want to go further in the description of the plot, because in its simplicity it really works and keeps the viewer glued to the screen in the approximately two hours of film duration. Attention, we are not talking about an enlightened and deeply original script, there are already many exponents of the genre who have had this same idea and have reworked it. Era ora, however, has an indisputable charm certainly given by the lightness of the narration, but also by another factor.
To drive the whole film forward is certainly the deep harmony that has been established between the two protagonists. Edoardo Leo and Barbara Ronchi have brought a truly believable relationship to the screen thanks to an impressive alchemy. A sincere, exciting and at times burning alchemy which really makes one think of being faced with, at first, two lovers who gradually get lost along the way, despite all the plans and good intentions for the future.
An impressive complicity | It was time review
Also very convincing is the interpretation of a bewildered Edoardo Leo who finds himself aging a good nine years in a few days and who manifests all the initial bewilderment with a few simple lines of dialogue and a lot of facial expression, as well as Alice’s reaction to the change in behavior Dante’s annual: the birthday syndrome, so he calls it. The supporting cast is also convincing, starting with Mario Sgueglia who plays Dante’s best friend. Obviously, there is a certain basic repetitiveness born from the very concept of the film, but it does not particularly clash and the duration is not so burdensome as to be boring.
In short, a light film and easily usable by anyone, but no less profound and important in the message. Aronadio’s direction works, in its simplicity, “light” as much as the narration, but at the same time functional. The editing is also excellent, fundamental in the second part of the film when Dante won’t even need to go to sleep anymore to wake up the following year. In short: a well-studied framework of lightness, which does not fall into the banal and the easy.
Good vision!
We end this review with a reflection: it is true, It was now is a metaphor for life. A warning, mostly, for all those who are so focused on their goals that they forget about everything around them. An incentive to live life more lightly and to enjoy the little things, the great loves and everyday affections. A praise certainly goes to the two protagonists, Edoardo Leo and Barbara Ronchi, for the excellent harmony that they managed to establish in just under two hours of film. A light romantic comedy, current and easily enjoyed. Recommended!
It Was Now is currently available to stream on Netflix. Let us know what you think of Aronadio’s film in the comments below stay tuned with us at TechGameWorld.com for all the news on cinema and TV series!
Plus points
- Extraordinary complicity between Edoardo Leo and Barbara Ronchi
- Discreet direction that does its duty
- A light script, easily usable
Points against
- By nature repetitive
- Definitely not that multifaceted and mature
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