This crime comedy isn't a play on cultural stereotypes, it's a parade of them. Toni Collette does her best to carry a pedestrian cast and a lousy script. Monica Bellucci did ok, in a deadpan way, but it must have galled her to see Italians played as such buffoons.
It's not meant to be realistic, of course, but the whole thing is just a shamble of cliches spiced with violence that veers between sharp and slapstick.
Early on there is a scene in a women's self-defence class where Kristin (Collette) gets support from Jenny (Sophia Nomvete), who is big, black and brassy. The whole class ends up in a ridiculous fem-power chant. This just lays the groundwork for turning up the volume of dumb, unfunny, repetitive cultural cliches once they hit Italy.
It's not meant to be realistic, of course, but the whole thing is just a shamble of cliches spiced with violence that veers between sharp and slapstick.
Early on there is a scene in a women's self-defence class where Kristin (Collette) gets support from Jenny (Sophia Nomvete), who is big, black and brassy. The whole class ends up in a ridiculous fem-power chant. This just lays the groundwork for turning up the volume of dumb, unfunny, repetitive cultural cliches once they hit Italy.