The Turning Point
By Brian Costello,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Italian thriller/buddy movie has violence, sex, language.
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The Turning Point
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What's the Story?
In THE TURNING POINT, Ludovico (Brando Pacitto) is a depressed student who rarely leaves his home. He halfheartedly studies economics, but his real passion is writing and drawing graphic novels. His life is turned upside down when he meets Jack (Andrea Lattanzi). Jack is a thief who has just ripped off a local crime boss named Caino. While trying to escape pursuit, Jack breaks into Ludovico's home and takes him hostage until he can make his escape. But when the crime boss's associates have staked out the street outside the apartment building all day and all night, it looks like Jack is going to be in Ludovico's house for a while. While in the throes of what appears to be Stockholm syndrome, Ludovico admires Jack's bravery, and for his part, Jack grows to admire Ludovico's artistic talents and looks for ways to make Ludovico more assertive in his life. This culminates in Ludovico finally chatting up his attractive neighbor who, as luck would have it, has her equally attractive best friend visiting from Spain. But Caino's thugs are getting ever closer to finding and killing Jack, who must find a way to escape before he's caught.
Is It Any Good?
This is an unusual mix of a crime thriller and a buddy movie that mostly works. The Turning Point (aka La Svolta) seems at first to be a rather stock noir story about a street tough who brazenly steals money from a crime boss and ends up hiding out in the apartment of someone who's definitely not a street tough. While there's a hardboiled violent element that predominates the movie's story, there's also an unexpected buddy-movie comedy that emerges around depressed artist Ludovico and the Stockholm syndrome he develops for tough-guy Jack. It's almost a romcom, as Jack discovers that Ludovico has a genuine talent for graphic novel writing, and Ludovico discovers that Jack is hip to Nietzsche and gourmet cooking.
It's a bit ridiculous, yes, but it doesn't lessen the entertainment value. The acting and chemistry are very good, and the movie somehow keeps a brisk pace. "Somehow," because, eventually, these two well-trodden genres must inevitably clash, and clash they do as we get closer to the movie's third act. The movie tries to have it both ways. It wants the positive messages of the buddy movie with the nihilism of noir. By the time the movie ends, it's hard to get any clear takeaway, as by this point, the two genres are no longer allies. Nonetheless, it's a fun ride while it lasts.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how The Turning Point combines different genres. How does this movie blend the elements of a crime thriller with those of a "buddy movie"?
Was the violence necessary to reveal who these characters are, or did it seem excessive? Why?
Were you surprised that this movie had some positive messages? What were those messages, and what are your thoughts on them?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming: April 20, 2022
- Cast: Andrea Lattanzi, Brando Lacitto, Max Malatesta
- Director: Riccardo Antonaroli
- Studio: Netflix
- Genre: Thriller
- Topics: Friendship
- Run time: 90 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Last updated: February 17, 2023
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