Guido Superstar: The Rise of Guido
87 min., 2010
Screwball comedy fans, your cup runneth over: this movie has fake identities, funny wigs, wacky characters and plot twists galore, all put across with delightful aplomb and infectious humour. Writer-director Silvio Pollio plays Guido, an illegal immigrant from Sicily who has just lost his job as a disco ballet dancer. Facing poverty and possible deportation, he runs into what first appears to be a stroke of luck. Two law enforcement agents approach him with an offer he can't refuse: he can stay in Canada if he agrees to go undercover against the local drug trade, impersonating a Sicilian mobster.
What follows is a madcap romp through the underworld, with enough pratfalls, slapstick and cheeky ethnic humour to fill two movies. Guido isn't the brightest of guys, but he's got a big heart, lots of guts and excellent fighting chops - ingredients enough for a great comic action hero. The film features a colourful cast of con men, cops, dope dealers and dupes, and they're all folded seamlessly into a smooth but surprising story. Performances are top-notch, with Pollio going wonderfully over the top as the hearty, hapless Guido and Terry Chen exuding warmth and menace in scary combination as drug lord Andrew Cho.
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http://www.viff.org/tixSYS/2010/xslguide/eventnote.php?EventNumber=2578