Give me back my wife, review: the Italian dramedy about lost love

Give me back my wife, review

What happens when a marriage is falling apart, the husband has probably betrayed his wife and the latter is now mentally devastated and exhausted by a relationship that no longer makes sense to her? The new original Sky miniseries tells it, divided into two episodes lasting about 80 minutes each, which brings an all-Italian dramedy to the screen, on 13 and 20 September, on Sky Serie and streaming on NOW on demand.

Give me back my wife is the new work born from the direction of Alessandro Genovesi, author of Can kiss the groom, 10 days without a mother or The worst Christmas of my life and other titles, in which he had involved some of the same faces now re-proposed, first of all Fabio De Luigi and Diego Abatantuono, as well as a cast that also includes Diana Del Bufalo, Anita Caprioli, Alessandro Betti (already known for his comic performances in the shows of the duo Ale & Franz, directly from Zelig, as Buona the first, Improvviserai and others). Let's find out together what we have had the opportunity to see in these two "macro" episodes, able to tell, without particular twists and unpredictable plot twists, the story of a couple who get by, between tragicomic events and little else of relevance, to the pursuit of happiness. Or at least a solution.

Give me back my wife, story of a lost and confused love

A romantic comedy adaptation of the sitcom I Want My Wife Back, Give me back my wife tells in two episodes, where the first leaves us suspended with a cliffhanger, the story of Giovanni (De Luigi) and Chiara (Caprioli) who after five years of relationship seem to have come to an end and the husband's attempt to organize a surprise birthday party does not seem to be successful. Giovanni is the same one who constantly eludes the advances of his colleague, and despite the fact that the relationship between him and Chiara is now worn out, it seems that only she notices it. Giovanni is convinced that everything is going well and when she decides to leave him with a letter, she packs her bags and leaves home.

The man does not want to give up, and is determined to win back Chiara at all costs, however impossible, among other people who get in the way in an attempt to conquer the broken heart of the two partners , but with what result?

Give me back my wife is yet another product that is placed under the label of Italian comedy, but with poor results, looking at the overall result: in particular in the first episode, the dialogues are verbose and the narrative rhythm is slow and with particular difficulties in moving forward, although there are also several certainly successful jokes, in particular between the two colleagues and friends, Antonio and Giovanni, and the stage presence of Abatantuono.

The main problem of actors like the latter and De Luigi, however, lies in their acting, now reduced to a speck of themselves: the former who for years has appeared on the screen as a wealthy manager, a bit arrogant in his ways, and father of a family as well as tenant of houses that highlight his economic "power", while the latter is almost always the anti-hero of the situation, as he presents himself in an alternation between an incapable husband to keep relationships and likable and awkward imbecile.

A story that doesn't work, in the couple and on the screen

In a constant mix of flashbacks and flashforwards, thanks to which we are gradually presented with an increasingly broader picture of the relationship between two, of how it was born and how it has developed at times over time, Ridatemi my wife in fact does not present any new situation, offering the story of the classic breakup of a couple relationship. The narrative arc struggles to present a true development of the current situation in the couple that has now broken out, between misunderstanding, unsuccessful attempts to reconnect and hide from the wife's family what is really happening between them, at least at the beginning.

Although the cast is certainly well thought out by the direction of Genovesi, the overall result is not up to their abilities: we are not faced with such a drama as to upset and strike us, but neither to sensational moments of laughter and laughter, making Ridatemi my wife as a whole a product that is hardly unforgettable.

The director has decided to put a story in the hands of the actors that does not place De Luigi as the only one who suffers everything from everyone , but presenting an overall crisis, which permeates the narrative and actively involves all the protagonists, or almost. Love is the feeling that is best able to mess up the cards on the table, presenting simple feelings on the stage that can be extremely tragic and infinitely comic.

Finally, the screenplay work is appreciable, rendered on the screen by a visual system of contemporary taste, together with stylistic choices made in the furnishings and in the retro-style colors, furnishings recovered between modern and vintage, trying to find a balance also with the work done on the costumes.

History is rich of different environments: from the homes of our protagonists, to the work environments, luxury restaurants and reception halls are the setting for a story that alternates brilliant humor with deeper reflections on sentimental ties, bringing back in this series the city of Rome through less recognizable neighborhoods, with the aim of creating a scenographic system at the service of the emotions that the title wants to tell and giving greater focus used to the story, rather than to the patination or not of the settings and the aesthetic level.

Basically, a pleasant miniseries, but not unmissable or unforgettable.